The revenge
by ayakane
Summary: After learning the truth about the Uchiha massacre, Sasuke plots revenge. Others join in. sasunaru, kakairu. shounin-ai. Don't like, don't read.
1. Chapter 1

The Revenge

Disclaimer: Kishimoto Masashi owns Naruto; I only wish I did.

WARNING!: Manga spoilers for the latest chapters!

1 Lost

The group of Konoha shinobi had found the site of Sasuke and Itachi's battle. The Uchiha hideout was nothing but a pile of rubble with no sign of either of the Uchihas, or the Akatsuki members they had seen earlier. They searched the wreckage thoroughly, trying to find the slightest clue to Sasuke's whereabouts, without success. There had been a chakra signature leading off to the northeast, but it soon faded out.

Naruto hadn't given up on Sasuke, even when their team lost his trail. Kakashi and Yamato ordered the group back to Konoha, and they all headed out. Naruto was the last to leave the remains of the Uchiha hideout. Something felt off. If Sasuke beat Itachi, then where was he? And where were Itachi and the other two Akatsuki members?

With everyone so focused on returning to Konoha and reporting to the Hokage, none noticed a certain blond shinobi slowing to a stop. Questions rang through his mind. Sasuke's goal had been met; why wasn't he here? Why wasn't he joining them on their return home? Naruto's eyes were troubled as he glanced around, noticing for the first time that the others were no longer in sight. Stretching his awareness, he was unable to detect the presence of any chakra signatures nearby.

"Great!" he muttered under his breath. "Just what I needed. Now where'd they go?" He scouted the area, searching for some sign of their passing: a trace of chakra, a bent twig, anything to show what direction they took. There was nothing. Naruto chose a random direction that he thought would lead him home, and started walking.

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Arriving at the gates of Konoha, Kakashi led the group to the Hokage tower to report their findings to Tsunade. Entering her office, the seven ninja stood to attention, awaiting Tsunade's acknowledgment.

The blonde Hokage looked up from the papers scattered over her desk, taking in the serious expressions on everyone's faces. Noticing one particular face missing, she glared at Kakashi and said, "Report." Had something happened to her favorite ninja? Kakashi had better have a damn good reason for why Naruto wasn't here!

"We began our search and soon met up with Kabuto. From him, we discovered Orochimaru isn't as dead as we thought. Kabuto did some sick experiment on himself, and now the snake's taking over him. He thinks he's strong enough to fight it, but according to Hinata, he's going to lose.

"Next, we were accosted by an Akatsuki member in a strange mask. We attacked, but nothing worked. Then this weird plant guy, also in an Akatsuki cloak, came and said Sasuke had defeated Itachi. The two left, and we followed. By the time we reached the location of their battle, there was no sign of either of the Uchihas. We decided it would be best to report back here and see what you wanted us to do."

Kakashi took a deep breath and looked out the window behind Tsunade. "We were also told that Jiraiya was killed. Is it true?" He lowered his gaze to look the blonde woman square in the eye.

Tsunade placed her elbows on her desk and covered her face with her hands. "Yes," she replied softly, voice cracking slightly. "He's dead." She took a shuddering breath and glanced up to meet each pair of eyes. "Tell me. What happened to Naruto? Is he in the hospital?"

Kakashi looked at her in question, then at the others in the room. It was then that he found the younger blond wasn't with them. "Kuso! Now where did he get to!? Does anyone remember the last time you saw Naruto? Did he enter the gates with us?"

Sakura remembered Naruto was the last one to leave the ruins, but said he was right behind her as they headed home.

Kiba remembered thinking the blond's scent was getting weaker as they travelled, but hadn't given it much thought at the time.

No one else could recall when they had last seen or heard the blond.

Sighing deeply, Tsunade glared at the seven. "Find him, and don't come back unless he's with you!"

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Naruto noted the colorful sky as the sun set. Usually, the beauty of it would have made him happy. But it had been a long time since he had felt that way. Ever since the last failed Sasuke-retrieval mission, Naruto had been steadily sliding further into depression. Now all he wanted to do was curl into a ball and cry, but he was too tired and depressed to even do that. He was lost; the forests of Hi no Kuni were vast, with few landmarks, and he'd been walking for hours. He had been so focused on following that strange masked guy that he hadn't noted what direction he was headed; all he knew was that the man could lead him to Sasuke.

The shadows under the trees had become so dark, it was making walking difficult, so Naruto decided to camp for the night. He jumped into the nearest tree and settled himself for the night on a wide branch.

Morning came all too soon, and with it came a light drizzle. Naruto grumblingly climbed down from his perch, and made a small fire to heat water for his ramen. As he ate his meal, the rain intensified to a downpour. Stomping out his fire, he headed off. Sooner or later, he was bound to see a familiar sight, and then he could get his bearings.

Naruto's cloak was soaked through in no time, but still he plodded on. The rest of the day was spent slogging through puddles and pushing his way through undergrowth. Near evening, the rain finally stopped, and the blond removed his wet cloak. He shivered in the cooling night air. He needed to find some place dry for the night, and began to search for a cave or a hole in a tree. He eventually located one of the latter that was big enough for him to sleep in comfortably and crawled in. He wrung out as much moisture from his cloak as possible and, wrapping it around his shoulders, settled in for another miserable night.

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Kakashi and Yamato were having a crisis of their own. Sakura and Kiba had both become very vocal after leaving the Hokage's office. Why should they have to search for the baka? They were tired, hungry and upset that the mission had borne no results. Now, their teammate had gotten himself lost, it seemed. They weren't the only ones who felt this way; although not as vocal, Shino, Hinata and even Sai expressed their displeasure.

Kakashi relented, giving them each four hours to eat, shower and rest, then to meet back at the gate. Any longer, and the Hokage would know they were still there, and neither the copy-nin nor anyone else wanted to face her wrath. Nodding their agreement, the teens took off for their respective homes.

Yamato bid Kakashi farewell and disappeared in a swirl of leaves. Kakashi glanced around the deserted street and figured someone should inform Iruka of the young blond's vanishing act. The chuunin might as well hear it from him. No telling how he'd take it if he heard it from some gossip on the street. Shoulders slouching in defeat and hands deep in his pockets, the silver-haired jounin went in search of the blond's surrogate father.

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"WHAT!?" Iruka collapsed in a chair, face draining of color. "But...the Akatsuki...what if they caught him? You yourself said they had been there! Why didn't you keep a closer eye on him!?" Tears began to slide down his cheeks as he thought that he may never again see the loud-mouthed blond. No more begging for free ramen, no more talks, no more pranks, no more Naruto! He knew logically that it wasn't Kakashi's fault, but he had to blame somebody, right? Who better than the team leader? He wasn't aware that Kakashi had moved until strong arms made their way around his shoulders and his face was pressed into the jounin's vest. Iruka clutched the vest tightly, and let all his pain and fear flow, along with his tears.

Kakashi wasn't one to give comfort often; hell, he wasn't even comfortable with these kinds of emotions, but he knew the chuunin needed this. After a long wait, Iruka's crying stopped and gentle snores could be heard. Kakashi's eyebrow twitched in annoyance. Did he just fall asleep on him!? He gazed at the younger man in his arms. Yep, the school teacher was fast asleep. Heheh. 'Iruka looks kinda cute like this. Wait...Did I just think he's CUTE?!' The jounin decided to shelve that thought for later when he'd have adequate time to consider it; right now, he better put the man to bed, and meet his team at the gates.

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Naruto awoke with a shiver in the dark pre-dawn air. The sound of water dripping off the trees from yesterday's storm mingled with the chirping of early morning birds. At least the weather would be better today, and maybe he could make better time. The blond still didn't know where he was going, but at least he'd get there faster now. Deciding to forego a warm breakfast, Naruto ate some trail rations and continued his trek through the forest.

Just past noon, he heard the sound of waves crashing in the distance. Maybe there was a village nearby, and he could get directions! Maybe they even had a ramen stand! Putting on a burst of speed, Naruto raced past tree after tree, until he reached an open space. He stopped and stared at the sight before him.

"SASUKE!!"

Sasuke had just finished telling his team, as well as Madara, his plans when he heard a familiar voice call his name. He lowered his head and squeezed his eyes shut. 'Damn! How did he find me!?' Slowly opening his eyes and turning around, he was shocked at the sight of the person, not that he'd ever show it.

Hesitantly stepping towards the small group of people near the water's edge, was a muddy, dishevelled blond. What surprised Sasuke more was that Naruto was apparently alone. 'Dobe, what have you done to yourself?' he thought. The look in the blond's eyes troubled him. No longer did they shine with suppressed mischief and mirth; no, they were filled with a deep sadness and hurt. Why? What had been happening to his dobe since they last met? Could this all be because of him? Surely, Naruto had finally gotten the message that Sasuke wanted nothing to do with him. Gracefully walking to the blond, Sasuke said, "Dobe, what do you want? I thought I made my position clear. I'm not going back to Konoha with you."

Naruto stopped in his tracks, and cocked his head to the side like an animal trying to figure something out. He gazed steadily at the raven, not saying a word.

"Do you not understand? Konoha is going to fall! I will make it fall! They took everything from me: my home, my family. My BROTHER!! Danzou, the elders, they did this to me; to US! I won't let them get away with this! You better than anybody should hate that damn village. They have always treated you like scum; hated you, ostracized you. Why do you care so MUCH!?" Sasuke practically screamed at his former teammate.

Blue eyes became glassy with unshed tears as Sasuke ranted. Naruto once felt that way; but, then Iruka-sensei befriended him, and others soon after. If he were to attack the village, some of his friends may get hurt or killed. The blond didn't want that to happen. As much as the raven's words hurt, Naruto still wanted to know his reasons. His reasons for not returning to Konoha after killing Orochimaru; why didn't he come back after defeating Itachi? Where WAS Itachi? So many questions and no idea how to ask, and doubtful if they would be answered in a way he'd understand.

Sasuke had continued to walk towards the blond as he spoke; now, he stood about a foot in front of his former best friend. "What do you want with me, Dobe?" he finally asked quietly, so that just the two of them could hear. Seeing Naruto, his Naruto, so distraught was causing his mask to crack. He deactivated his new sharingan, and onyx eyes stared into blue once bright enough to put the sky to shame. Now those eyes were dull and almost lifeless. Sasuke watched as a tear rolled unimpeded down a whiskered cheek, and felt his heart clench. How could an orphan who'd been so abused, love the village that had abused him for so long? It didn't make sense. If Sasuke had had the power that Naruto had, he would have killed everyone in the village by now.

(sniff) "You once told me I couldn't understand how you felt, not having had a family of my own. I have that now, maybe not by blood, but they're my family all the same. You are part of that family, whether you like it or not. I care about you. It causes pain to think about any of them dying, or not wanting to come home. It hurts worse to know that you want to destroy them, destroy our home. Why do you hate Konoha so much? Why do you hate me?" he spoke the last in a voice barely above a whisper. Naruto could not continue through the lump in his throat. Tears ran unchecked down his face. He was unable to look at the raven anymore, and stared past his shoulder at the sea. He felt lost; not just physically, but now mentally as well. He didn't know what to do anymore. Maybe he should have let Sasuke kill him years ago; he wouldn't be experiencing this heartache now. Naruto edged past the raven and walked towards the shore. He had never felt so bad; not even after the initial retrieval mission which left so many injured. He was falling deeper into darkness, and now there was no one to pull him back to the light. Sasuke had been his light, despite his personality and coloring, for so long. Now it was gone; the Sasuke he knew was gone. In his place was a cold stranger who didn't know him; didn't understand him. There was nothing left to live for; no hopes, no dreams. Naruto was dead inside. He had finally given up. In a sudden burst of speed, Naruto dashed to the water's edge and dove into the thundering surf.

xxxxx Hope you like it!


	2. Chapter 2

2 Revelations

Sasuke and the others stared in shock at the spot where Naruto had vanished. What was he doing!? WHY?!

Suigetsu was the first to react. Discarding his zambato, he dove into the water after the crazy blond. A short while later, he resurfaced and dragged the unconscious idiot onto the rocks.

Sasuke, the first to reach him, snatched Naruto from him and gently lay him on his back. Checking for breathing and a pulse, he began to try to force the water out of the baka's lungs. A large amount of sea water spewed from the blond's lips and he began to cough. Sasuke sat back, relieved, and watched as Naruto sat up coughing out more of the briny stuff.

"Baka. What is wrong with you?" Sasuke asked.

Naruto ignored the question and concentrated on breathing. Maybe trying to drown himself wasn't the best idea, but with the kyuubi always able to heal his wounds, it was the best way he could think of to kill himself. Naruto let out a ragged cough, refusing to look at the raven. Nothing would ever be right again. Drawing his knees to his chest, he buried his face. Maybe if he sat here long enough, Sasuke would leave him alone. If he couldn't bring Sasuke back, there was nothing left; without his best friend, Naruto had no purpose in life. Forget the other friends he had made; Sasuke was the only one important to him. Sasuke was his life. The emptiness engulfing his soul grew larger. He felt so alone. Heh, he'd always been alone; why was now so different? Naruto gathered his courage and stood up, ignoring the five people around him. Glancing longingly once more at the ocean, the blond ninja turned and made his way back towards the treeline.

Sasuke watched in concern and confusion as Naruto walked away without a word. He felt something in his chest tighten, and without pausing to think on it, jumped to his feet and raced after the blond. After all these years of being chased by the dobe, he wasn't about to let him go. No, if anyone walked away, it would be him. Catching up to Naruto, he grabbed his shoulder and spun the other boy to face him.

"The Naruto I knew never quit. That's what I always admired about you. Your determination." Using his other hand, Sasuke gripped the boy's chin and forced his head up in order to look into those blue eyes. What he saw almost made him take a step back, but he held his ground. Those beautiful orbs were lifeless, as though Naruto were already dead. 'This is wrong; Naruto is the liveliest person I know. I couldn't have killed his spirit, by refusing to return, could I? Am I the one responsible...?' Sasuke thought. His mind blanked temporarily. With no thought other than returning the life to those eyes, he pulled the unresisting blond into an embrace. "Dobe, what am I going to do with you?" he murmurred into wet blond hair, rocking slightly.

The other former members of Hebi stared at the scene before them. Never would they have believed that something could break through their leader's icy exterior. First, the tears as he announced their change in purpose; now hugging another guy? What was going on? Who was this person?

Madara had watched the scene unfold, from the moment the jinchuuriki had first made his presence known until now. Maybe collecting the nine-tail wasn't the best answer right now. If he was close to Sasuke, and joined the Uchiha in his battle against Konoha, they would be unstopable. The village would fall! He smirked behind his mask. It seems things just got simpler.

Kakashi called a halt at mid-morning, due to the heavy rain. All scent had been washed away hours ago, and now they could hardly see more than ten feet in front of them. What if Naruto had holed up to wait out the storm, and they passed him? If the blond made it back to Konoha without them, then Tsunade would have to send a team to retrieve THEM! If Naruto had continued in the same direction, however, sooner or later they would cross his path, once the rain let up.

The seven ninja set up camp under the boughs of a huge evergreen, where the ground was still relatively dry. Preparing a small fire, Sakura and Hinata agreed to make a warm meal of sorts. It was better they do it than let one of their male teammates, whose cooking skills were atrocious. (A/N: Not knocking guys' ability to cook: most of the males in my family are fantastic at it.) After eating, they set the watches and everyone settled down to rest.

By evening, the rains had stopped, and Kakashi insisted they continue their journey. He summoned his nin-dogs, and they, along with Kiba and Akamaru, took the lead, trying to pick up Naruto's scent again. Soon after dawn the next morning, they had it and the chase was on. According to the dogs, the young blond was by himself and only a few hours ahead of them. Kakashi released his summons since they were now on Naruto's trail.

Hinata activated her byakuugan to see if she could locate him, but he was too distant.

Sakura and Kiba had similar thoughts: 'When I get my hands on that blond baka, I'm going to kill him for making us worry!'

The rest of the nins hid their thoughts behind emotionless masks.

As the sun was sinking into the trees to the west, the group exited the forest and gazed at the sight in front of them. Rocky coastline and crashing waves met their eyes. For miles in either direction, not a soul could be seen. Had they somehow lost the trail? Where was Naruto?

Akamaru barked at Kiba, who at first seemed shocked, then angry. "Hey! Naruto was here, but he wasn't alone! Akamaru says the Uchiha and that masked dude, as well as three others were here with him. Are we going after them!?" Kiba was itching for the chance to punch the Uchiha for all the pain he'd caused, and he wouldn't mind another shot at the masked nin, either.

"...!" from the rest of the team.

'Sasuke, what do you have to do with the Akatsuki?' Kakashi mused. This was not good. They had to find Naruto and fast before the kyuubi could be extracted. The Hokage would kill them all, literally, if anything happened to the young blond. He wondered, not for the first time, why Tsunade and Jiraiya held Naruto in such high regard. The younger blond insulted them and argued with them at every turn. They, in turn, treated the boy almost as if he were a bratty younger sibling. In Tsunade's case, Kakashi could see she saw him as a surrogate for the little brother she had lost so long ago. Jiraiya was a mystery, however. He acted as though Naruto was a troublesome pain that he had to endure. If he didn't know better, he'd say Jiraiya saw Naruto as a replacement for his former student, the Yondaime. As if struck by a lightning bolt, Kakashi understood. The Yondaime would never choose some random infant in which to seal the kyuubi; he used his own son! The silver haired jounin remembered that his sensei's wife was pregnant at the time of the demon's attack. But the Third said that both mother and child had died in the attack...Why!? How could he do that to Naruto!? Sarutobi had seemed to genuinely care for the boy. Why didn't he let someone adopt Naruto, or tell everyone who the child was? Why let him grow up in torment and hatred? How could HE have been so blind? So stupid to not have seen the similarities? Look past the whisker marks, and Naruto was an exact image of the Yondaime! Guilt swept through Kakashi as he remembered his own treatment of the blond; he had ignored him and his training because of what he held inside. Once they found Naruto, Kakashi vowed to spend the rest of his days trying to make up for his behavior.

Dizziness swept over him and he abruptly sat on the hard ground as another thought struck him. Did Sasuke know about Naruto's parents? That was another reason to get to the blond quickly. If the Uchiha were to tell Naruto, who knew how he'd react? Kakashi called the others to gather around. "Kiba, how long ago did they leave this place?" Hearing they were only an hour behind, he said, "Okay, everyone! Let's go! Kiba, you and Akamaru take point. We need to reach them as soon as possible!"

They ran back to the trees, hot on the trail of their missing teammate. Nothing was going to stop them now.

Sasuke had ended up carrying Naruto on his back, as the blond had collapsed due to exposure and exhaustion, both mental and physical. Sasuke noted that the other boy wasn't as heavy as he looked, and the six made excellent time. They were heading back to the cave where Madara had told Sasuke the truth. There, they would perfect their plans for the downfall of the Leaf Village.

Upon arrival, Sasuke laid Naruto on the pallet he had woken up on. He brushed a stray strand of hair away from the whiskered face, gazing at the face of his best friend. He had only seen the blond this vulnerable once: after their fight at the Valley of the End. Why was he all alone? How did he get in this condition?  
Was he a missing nin? No, his hitai-ate was unmarred. So where were the rest of his team? Madara had said others were with Naruto when they had last met. Lost in his thoughts, he didn't notice Karin walk up behind him until she put her hand on his shoulder.

Sasuke spun around, slashing out with a kunai. Karin jumped back with a scowl on her face. "Damn, Sasuke-kun! What's your problem? I was only going to ask if you were ok!" she screeched. 'Shit! He's more high-strung now than he was before he killed his brother. What's up with that!?' Muttering to herself, she went to sit near Juugo and Suigetsu, who were both staring at the raven with contemplative looks on their faces. Madara was busy getting a meal together and ignoring the five young people.

Sasuke returned to his silent observation of the blond. He had so many questions; the kyuubi should be healing Naruto, not letting him get into such a state. Was there something wrong with the demon also? How could that be? He was a being made entirely of chakra; chakra couldn't fall ill, could it? Sasuke wanted Naruto to wake up and talk to him. He settled himself beside the blond, watching him and waiting for Naruto to awaken. It would be a long night.

The other people in the room ate the food Madara fixed, silently gazing at the two on the pallet. All were wondering about the connection between the two, each for their own reasons. Madara was thinking how to use the kyuubi-vessel in his plans. Karin wondered why Sasuke, who never showed anyone any affection, changed that for this boy. Juugo was thinking that maybe this person was strong like Sasuke, another person who could control his curse; he hoped that was the case. Suigetsu smirked; to him, it seemed that Karin and every other female was out of the running where dating Sasuke was concerned. None bothered to voice their thoughts, nor bothered the raven with petty questions. He would explain himself when, and if, he felt like it.

After eating, they made themselves comfortable for the night. Who knew what the morning would bring?

Akamaru lost the scent at a rocky outcropping. There was no discernable opening into the rock. Hinata's byakuugan was unable to penetrate to see if there was a cave behind it. Kakashi and Yamato discussed matters and decided to wait till sunrise to search the area more thoroughly. They set up camp a short way from the rock, and Yamato took the first watch.

In the middle of the night, during Sakura's watch, they were attacked by a small band of rogue ninja. These men were all high-chuunin to low-jounin in strength, and were easily dispatched. Sakura took out two all by herself; her anxiety over her missing teammate fueled her anger, and she sent them flying through several trees with chakra-infused punches. Yamato had to restrain her using his wood element technique until she calmed down, once the enemy had been taken care of. Kakashi took the remainder of her watch and his own, which was the final one before dawn.

After a quick meal the next morning, Shino sent his kikaichuu to search for a way into the rock from the previous night. By mid-morning, all had returned. There was definitely a cave behind it; now, all they had to do was get past that rock. Sakura gathered chakra into her fist and prepared to smash it, as she had during the Gaara-retrieval mission. Everyone moved away, but prepared themselves for quick entry once the way was opened.

Naruto awoke slowly. He felt warm and comfortable. Blinking sleepily, he looked to his left where the warmth seemed to be concentrated. A pale face framed by ebony locks appeared in his view. A tear silently slid down his cheek. 'Sasuke.' Was he still asleep and dreaming? Slowly he reached out and touched a warm cheek. It really was the Uchiha! More tears fell as his lips curved up in a genuine smile.

Sasuke jerked awake at the touch. Listless blue eyes were staring at him from less than a foot away. 'Naruto,' his mind supplied. "Are you feeling better now, Dobe?" he asked quietly.

A frown swiftly made a home on Naruto's face. "Who are you calling a dobe, bastard?" he demanded.

Sasuke smiled, an honest-to-God real smile. That was the Naruto he knew and loved. 'Love?!...' "Hn." The smile remained; he was happy to have his friend back to normal. "Keep your voice down; there's other people sleeping here." A serious look crossed his face. "We need to talk. Let's go to the back of the cave so we can have some privacy."

They quietly rose and stepped past the other bodies. Once they were far enough away, they sat and Sasuke began to tell Naruto everything he had found out, about Itachi and Konoha, and the Uchiha clan's plans for rebellion. Naruto didn't interrupt once. It was too awful! Why didn't anyone else know this!? How could they keep something like this from Sasuke!? When Sasuke finished his tale, he began to question Naruto. By the end of their discussion, the others were awake but kept their distance from the two. Sasuke ended by asking Naruto to join with them in taking down Konoha.

Naruto was quiet for a long time. He loved the village, though not all the villagers. He was born there; his friends were there. What would happen to Iruka, and Tsunade-baachan? They loved the village, too. He wanted to talk with them before he committed to Sasuke's plan. From what Sasuke had told him, it sounded like it was all the council's fault. It was also the council who hated him, and were trying to put restrictions on his movements. Many of the villagers also deserved some payback for all the grief they had given him.

Sasuke saw a mischievous glint enter those not-so-long-ago empty eyes. He remembered that look from their academy days; he almost felt sorry for whoever that look was for. He waited patiently for Naruto's answer, and just as the blond opened his mouth to reply, there was a tremendous crash. Light and dust filled the room. Staring towards the source, his mouth opened and he said, "Sakura."

Everyone was sitting outside the cave, warily staring at each other. A small-scale war had been narrowly averted thanks to Naruto. Naruto, sitting at Sasuke's side, was explaining everything to the Konoha ninja. He glanced at Sasuke occasionally for confirmation of the facts, making sure he got it right. He ended by saying, gazing in Sasuke's eyes all the while, "I have to see Tsunade-baachan about this. As far as I can tell, from what you told me, Itachi loved the village and didn't want anything to happen to it. It also seems that the truly guilty people who should be punished are all those old farts on the council, Danzou and the elders. Madara, who exactly gave the orders to kill the Uchihas?" Naruto turned to address the eldest among them.

The strange man in the orange mask looked at each of those gathered. "The ones who gave the orders were Danzou, Koharu and Homura of the council. Sarutobi had tried to find another solution to the Uchihas' discontent, but in the end he sided with the council. They took an innocent boy and made him their scapegoat. Itachi ripped out his heart following those orders, but he knew it had to be done to avert a civil war. I agree with the kyuubi. The council is who we need to bring down. Who's with us?"

Saying the Konoha nins were stunned would be the understatement of the century. Who could have imagined the extent of the corruption in their seemingly peaceful village? The eight from the Leaf moved into the trees to talk things over. Some were more vocal than others, but in the end, they agreed with Naruto and Madara. Now, they had to come up with a plan to bring Sasuke's group into Konoha without anyone getting hurt, or locked up with Ibiki for interrogation. When they thought they had reached a workable strategy, they presented it to the others. Smiles spread all around.


	3. Chapter 3

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3 Returns...and Plans

"Tsunade-sama! Kakashi and his team have returned, but there's something going on with them!" Shizune burst through the office door, panting but pale.

Tsunade raised an eyebrow at her assistant. Placing her elbows on the desk and lacing her fingers together, she gave the younger woman an appraising stare. "Explain."

Shizune opened her mouth to speak, but got no further as the door burst open.

"Ohayo, Baachan! Did you miss me?" A smiling Naruto enter the room, followed by about 20 more orange-clad blond copies. Two poofed into Kakashi and Yamato, and one changed his hair color to pink to let the Hokage know they weren't all clones. All were smiling brightly.

Frowning, Tsunade growled, "What's the meaning of this, gaki?"

Naruto, or at least the first to have entered, leaned across her desk and whispered, "We need to talk to you in private; get rid of Shizune. And can you make this place soundproof?"

Tsunade sat up straight in surprise. What was so important that Shizune couldn't hear? The woman was her assistant, and as such, was privy to quite a lot of A- and S-ranked secrets. Intrigued, the Hokage dismissed Shizune, asking her to see to it that they weren't disturbed until Tsunade herself opened the door.

"But...Hokage-sama! You may need my input. Should I alert the council that Naruto-kun has returned? They have been asking."

Seeing Naruto give a tiny shake of his head, Tsunade gave a firm, "NO!", and sent the woman out.

"Now," she said, when the door clicked shut, "What the hell is going on!?"

Naruto asked her to put up a sound barrier and he'd tell her everything. The older blonde "Hmph"-ed, but did as he asked.

Once the barrier was up, Naruto dispelled his clones, and all the rest dropped their henge. Tsunade gasped. The Uchiha had stepped up to stand next to the blue-eyed blond. He told the story as Madara had told it to him. The Hokage was shocked by what was revealed, though knowing the council as she did, she shouldn't be. She asked them all to replace the henge, then went and opened the office door. "Shizune! Get me all the files on Uchiha Itachi NOW! I want every bit of information, from his pre-Academy days to the day of the massacre! GO!!"

"Hai, Hokage-sama!" When she ran off, the Godaime re-entered the room. Sitting in her chair, she began to massage her forehead, feeling a headache coming on. No one moved or spoke until Shizune returned with a thick folder. "That's all of it, Tsunade-sama. Is there anything else I can do for you?" Clearly, Shizune wanted to remain and see what was going on.

Tsunade dismissed her, and re-erected the sound barrier. She carefully went over every page of the files. The henge was dropped, and the group of ninja in the room sat down to wait.

Several hours went by before finally the last page was replaced in the folder. Tsunade turned and stared out the window, deep in thought. When she turned to face her guests, she had an evil glint in her eyes. "There's going to be some major changes in Konoha in the near future. I'm sure I can count on all of you to do your parts to ensure the transition is smooth with minimal bloodshed." She stared each person in the eyes, and they nodded, slow smiles lighting their faces. "Alright. Here's what we are going to do..."

Shizune looked up when the Hokage's office door opened and out trooped 20 Narutos. She walked into the room to see Tsunade gazing out the window, sake bottle in hand. "Hokage-sama! You need to put that away now! You have paperwork that needs to be done! You haven't worked all day!"

Tsunade glanced over her shoulder at the younger woman before turning back to her view of the village. "Shizune...Shut up and get out. I'm taking the rest of the day off." So saying, she stood and marched past the gaping woman, taking Itachi's files with her and slamming the door on her way out.

The first part of the plan was set in motion. All the Narutos headed for the Uchiha district. There, those who were in henge changed back. The clones Naruto set to cleaning the place to make it habitable. The two groups agreed that it would be best if Sasuke and his team lay low, while the rest of them went to talk to their friends and aquaintances. First, they would sound them out about their thoughts on the council members. Then, they would reveal why they asked. They would describe Itachi's treatment and dilemma prior to the massacre; see what people's responses were. If favorable, they would ask if they wanted to join them for a small coup on the council. They also planned to take out Root. Sai was the one designated for that part.

Naruto had another agenda planned. He was going to recruit some people coughKonohamaruCorpscough, and set them up to help him perform some major pranks on all the villagers who had abused and mistreated him over the years. This would ensure they never forgot the blond kyuubi-vessel, and would for evermore think twice before mistreating a fellow human-being. Particularly those unable to defend themselves. Especially a prankster such as Naruto, who became a strong shinobi. He rubbed his hands in glee. This had been a long time coming.

The Rookie Nine plus Team Gai surreptitiously made their way to the old Team 7 training ground, after a word from one of the four that had been on the mission to find Naruto. Now, they stood around waiting for those four to show up. They talked among themselves, speculating on what could be so important that they had to meet way out here. Their questions were soon answered once Sakura, Kiba, Hinata and Shino arrived. They were told everything; about the kyuubi (with Naruto's consent), Itachi and the massacre, the council, Root, Sasuke's return, and the Hokage's plan. All agreed to take part. Kiba and Sakura high-fived, grinning madly. This was going to work!

In the next stage, all were to approach their relatives and casually ask what they knew about the massacre, and about the kyuubi. The teens were to ask about the treatment of Naruto when he was younger, and why most villagers still treated the boy so poorly. If their parents/relatives denied knowledge, they were to inform them that THEY knew the truth, about EVERYTHING. Let's see how the older generation reacted to THAT! Depending on their responses, they would either be recruited to join in on taking down the council and Root, or left in the dark as to what the young people of the village were up to.

Tsunade had bought half a dozen bottles of sake, and gone looking for Naruto. It was past time he learned the truth of his heritage, council be damned! She couldn't wait to see the shock on their wrinkled old faces when they learned the truth. She found the younger blond just as he finished his conversation with Konohamaru. She asked him to follow her, and they climbed to the top of the Hokage Monument. The Godaime settled herself on the head of the Yondaime and stared out over the village. It all looked to peaceful and pleasant, but looks could be deceiving. This place was rotten at the core, and only a thorough cleansing would make it better.

She patted the spot beside her and asked Naruto to sit. He gave her a quizzical look, but did as she requested. Once he was seated, Tsunade began to speak.

"It's been sixteen years now since the night of the kyuubi's attack, the night you were born. You may not know this, but I was there when you were born." A sad smile graced her countenance, and she gave Naruto a side glance before continuing. "Your mother was so brave; she truly wanted you, loved you. She had been injured in the attack and went into labor. She lived just long enough to hold you and give you a kiss. Your father was devastated. I think, if there was any other way to stop the demon, he would have done it. But there you were, and he had the jutsu. If you hadn't been born when you were, or had died with your mother, the kyuubi would have continued his rampage until the entire village was razed."

Tsunade drank from one of the bottles she had brought with her. Tears coursed silently down her cheeks. This was difficult, reliving that night; as hard as it was for her to relate, it must be doubly hard for Naruto to hear. She couldn't bear to look at his face; silent accusation must surely be there. She had known who his parents were all along, after all, and never told him. Finishing the first bottle, Tsunade resumed her story.

"Minato-kun took you out to that battlefield knowing he would die, leaving you an orphan. His last wish was that you were to be seen as a hero; the one who saved us all. But he didn't realize the amount of pain and anger the villagers held for the kyuubi due to lost loved ones. Sarutobi, however, did see. He made a proclamation stating that anyone who told you or any of the younger generation about the fox being sealed inside you would be put to death. He wanted you to grow up as normally as possible. However, the villagers managed to get around that. Their hatred for you, who they saw as a reincarnation of the kyuubi in human form, was passed on to their children. That's why you were shunned by everyone growing up."

She pause to open another bottle and take a drink. "Then you found out about the fox. Sarutobi should have told you then about your parentage; I still don't understand why he didn't. Anyway, now you know. I wouldn't blame you for hating me; I hate myself at the moment."

Silence filled the air. Naruto sat on top of the Yondaime's head and thought of all the Hokage had told him. His mother died that night; that makes sense. As for his father...Did she mean that he was the one to seal the demon inside him? But...the Yondaime was said to have...That means his father was the Yondaime!? "The YONDAIME IS MY FATHER?!" He couldn't believe it! When he was little he used to fantasize that it was so, but to find out it was true!? "How many?" he whispered.

Tsunade turned to see the downcast head. Tears dripped from his cheeks. She was puzzled; 'how many what?' How many died?

Naruto lifted his head to gaze steadily at the woman he had seen as a sort of grandmother figure. As if he had read her thoughts, he elaborated. "How many people knew he was my father?"

"Only three: Sarutobi-sensei, Jiraiya and myself. You were given your mother's maiden name to protect you from your father's enemies. You were born Namikaze Naruto, son of the Yondaime Hokage, Namikaze Minato and his wife, Uzumaki Kushina. You look so much like your father; I'm surprised no one ever figured it out." She gave him a half-hearted smile.

Naruto didn't know what he should feel, but he just felt numb. All these years. All these years and nobody knew. Even Kakashi-sensei didn't know. How could he NOT know? The Fourth was his sensei, for Kami's sake! Taking a deep breath to get his emotions under control, he asked, "So my real name is Namikaze, not Uzumaki? Would it be alright if I were to start going by that now? I'm a ninja and can take care of myself, after all. I have enemies of my own; what's a few more?" He turned to Tsunade and smiled wryly.

She smiled back, and offered him a drink from the bottle she held. He refused with a quick shake of his head. Shrugging, she tilted the bottle and drained it. "Namikaze Naruto it is then. Is there anything else you want to know?"

Naruto contemplated for a minute, then asked if she could tell him what his parents looked like. Maybe when he was more comfortable talking about it, he would ask more about them. Right now, it was a bit overwhelming to find out your idol was your own father.

Tsunade smiled hugely. "I can do better than that; I've got pictures!" She went to stand up, and almost lost her balance. She might have fallen if Naruto hadn't reached out and grabbed her arm. He kept a tight grip on her as they walk back down the mountain. Tsunade led him to her rooms. She had him sit on the couch while she began to dig through some boxes in the corner. She emerged triumphantly waving a stack of photos in her hand. "They are all yours. By the way, did you know that Jiraiya named you before you were born? Haha. He was also named your godfather; that's primarily why he took you on as a student."

Naruto gaped at her; all the truth about his unknown past was coming out. He didn't know how much more he could handle; he needed time to process it. He took the photos and bid her goodbye. He turned at the door and ran back to her, gave her a hug, whispered "Thank you," and ran out the door like the hounds of hell were on his heels.

Naruto wandered down the street, staring at the top photo. It showed a smiling young couple: A blond man with his arms wrapped around a heavily pregnant red headed woman. She was very beautiful, and he recognized the man as the Fourth Hokage. His parents. Briefly, he wondered who took the picture, but decided it really didn't matter. He wanted to share his new-found knowledge with someone, but who? When he glanced up to get his bearings, he realized he was in front of Iruka's apartment. With a smile, he knocked on the door. He was surprised when it was opened by Hatake Kakashi, who ushered him inside quickly and shut the door. Iruka was sitting on his couch, a stunned look on his face. He didn't even acknowledge Naruto's entry.

"I just told him. It's taking him awhile to assimilate it all. I think we'll be able to count on his cooperation, though." Kakashi said, giving the blond one of his eye-smiles. "What's that in your hand? Pictures? Ooh, let me see!" The somewhat immature jounin snatched the photos out of his former student's hands, and sitting beside Iruka, started to look through them. After the third one, he stopped as it finally clicked what he was looking at. "Whe...Where did you... find these?" He stared from the pictures in his hands to Naruto and back to the pictures.

Naruto sat on the other side of Iruka and said with a soft smile, "They're my parents. Tsunade-baachan gave them to me. Did you know...that your sensei was my father?" Naruto wasn't angry, just curious as he glanced over at the stunned copy-nin.

"No. Not at first, anyway. I only realized it when we were looking for you. I'm so sorry, Naruto, for not seeing it sooner. You're the spitting image of your father. We had been told both you and Kushina-san had died. I should have known that your father wasn't one to choose a baby at random to use for sealing the fox demon. He wasn't one to ask of another what he himself wasn't willing to do. In a lot of ways, you're just like him. But your personality is more like your mother's. Would you like to know more about them?"

Grateful for the offer, Naruto had to decline. "I'm still trying to make sense of it right now, but thank you. It's a lot to take in all at once, you know?" He scratched the back of his neck in a nervous gesture. "Maybe some other time, ne?"

Iruka came out of his stupor to find Kakashi and Naruto literally talking over him as they passed pictures back and forth. Catching a glimpse of one as it went by, he grabbed it. "Is that the Yondaime?" He looked left and right, waiting for an answer.

Naruto was the one to reply. "Iruka-sensei, these are my parents. I'm also changing my name. I found out my birth-name is really Namikaze Naruto. Isn't this great?! Yondaime was my father! I'm not some nobody!" For the first time since Sasuke left for Sound, Naruto smiled one of his big, cheesy grins. The only difference being this one was real; it even lit up his eyes. Iruka thought his heart would burst, seeing that smile; it had been missing for much too long. He was happy for the boy, but he still saw Naruto as a son, even if they all knew who his parents now were. Iruka gave the teen a crushing hug.

" 'Ru..ka-sen..sei! Can't...breathe!"

Iruka let go, apologizing profusely. Smiling himself, he offered to treat Naruto to all the ramen he could eat to celebrate. Kakashi was invited to join them; he accepted.

The house was clean; Naruto's clones had even gone to the market to buy food for the place. Sasuke was somewhat surprised to discover that it wasn't all instant ramen. He recalled the few times in their genin days when he had to go wake the dobe up. Back then, all that was in the blond's cabinets had been boxes and boxes of cup ramen. He smirked; maybe the dobe had finally grown out of his obsession with the horrible stuff. Naaah! He wouldn't be Naruto without his ramen. By the way, what was keeping the dobe? And where were the others? They had all agreed to meet back here once everything had been set in motion.

At that moment, said ramen-obsessed blond was currently working on his 15th bowl of Ichiraku ramen. He had informed the owner, Teuchi, of his name change, and the man had stated that Naruto's meal was on the house. Up to 20 bowls, though; he had to set a limit somewhere.

Teuchi had guessed long ago who the boy's parents were; this just confirmed it. He was happy for the teen; he remembered how sad the boy would get when someone would call him a no-name orphan that nobody wanted. It had made him furious, knowing how much the Yondaime and his wife were looking forward to the birth of their child. He hadn't said anything about it, because for some reason, the Hokage wanted it kept a secret. While Naruto and his two companions ate, they chatted with the kind ramen chef.

Finally full, Naruto looked up at the man. "Oi, oji-san! Can I ask you something?" When he received a nod, he continued. "You didn't seem too surprised when I told you my new name; did you know my parents?"

"They were some of my best customers, before you came along. It wasn't hard to figure it out; you look alot like your old man." Teuchi ended his statement with a large smile. "You seem to have something else on your mind; want to talk about it?"

"Can you close up the stand for a while? We'd like to discuss some business with you, in private," Kakashi requested.

Ichiraku Teuchi was intrigued; what could be so important as to ask such a thing? "How about going to my place? It's just behind the stand. Ayame! I'm going out for a bit! Watch the place, will you?" he yelled to his daughter. He led the way around to his home and ushered the three ninja inside. Closing the door, he asked, "What's with all the secrecy?"

The ninja looked at each other, and with a silent signal, Naruto began. "You know I have the Kyuubi sealed in me, right?" An affirmative nod. "You never let that stop you from treating me like a normal person, so I want to let you know what's going on. We are going to take out the council, and the Root ANBU. We'll also be creating mayhem among the civilian population. What I'm about to tell you is an S-ranked secret, but I think you can be trusted not to spread it around."

Teuchi was shocked! Take out the elders!? Just what was going on?! He listened quietly to Naruto's tale, relayed with the help of Kakashi. By the end, he was silently fuming. How DARE the council betray the trust of the village! Of course he would help in any way possible. He wouldn't mind paying back some of his fellow vendors for their past, and present, treatment of Naruto. He listened to the plans as laid out by the Hokage.

Naruto and the two older ninja parted ways, Iruka stating that he had classes to teach in the morning, and still needed to grade papers tonight. He hugged Naruto once more before departing, with a promise to start a new teaching regimen in the morning. Kakashi headed for the Hokage tower to inform Tsunade of their progress thus far. Naruto slowly walked in the direction of the Uchiha district.

"Tadaima!" he called upon entering the large house. He was met by a scowling Sasuke.

"What took you so long, Dobe? We've been waiting hours to hear how it's going!" The raven pushed Naruto into the main room where the other four fugitives were sitting.

Naruto took a seat and smiled at the group. "Well, first of all, I'm not a dobe. I found out who my parents were, Sasuke! You'll never guess!" His smile lit up the room, putting the lamps to shame. "The Yondaime was my father! Can you believe it, Sasuke?"

O.o "..."

Naruto continued to tell Sasuke and the others about his parents and why up until now, no one had known of their relationship with him. The boy's happiness was contagious, and soon all were smiling and joining in on the conversation.

Karin even put in her opinion of the secret. "So, the old Hokage hid your parentage, not only from you, but the rest of the village? Man, that's cold! He could have told someone, and let you be adopted or something. I can understand him not wanting Iwa or anyone from outside the village finding out, but to leave you to grow up all alone!? What kind of asshole was he?!" Thus began a heated argument between her and the blond about what kind of man Sarutobi had been.

Madara chuckled. Who knew old Sarutobi could be so devious as to hide such a fact? If what he was hearing was correct, the council, and most of the villagers, would be on their knees licking the kyuubi-vessel's feet, begging for forgiveness when the truth was made public. He was still thinking of how to use the kyuubi-vessel to destroy Konoha, but he was thinking of first seeing how the current plan worked out. Then he would begin working on his own plan. The masked man decided he didn't need to listen to any more, and took himself off to bed.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Though I might wish I owned Naruto, sadly I don't. That honor belongs to Kishimoto-sama.

4 Questions and a New Mission

Shizune was becoming suspicious; she had heard gossip on the street that Naruto had been seen entering and leaving the Uchiha district several times, both yesterday and today. Why? What was going on? She thought to inform the council of this, but wanted her own confirmation, as well as the reason behind this strange behavior. The best way to find out would be to question the Godaime. She knew Tsunade had returned a short while ago, but hadn't seemed to be too drunk. She headed to the Hokage's office.

Entering the room, Shizune was shocked to see Tsunade sitting at her desk, doing paperwork. There was no sign of a sake bottle, and Tsunade appeared to be sober and in a good mood.

Glancing up, the Hokage asked, "Did you want something, Shizune?", before signing another sheet of paper.

"Hokage-sama, Naruto has been seen in the Uchiha district. I thought that area was off-limits to the villagers."

Tsunade pushed aside her work. Looking sqarely into her assistant's eyes, she stated, "What I'm about to tell you goes no further. On their last mission, they located the whereabouts of the Uchiha. Team Kakashi believes, and I agree, that when next they meet up with him, they will be able to convince him to return. He will need some place to live, and I asked Naruto to make sure the place was liveable."

Shizune was confused. "But Hokage-sama, Uchiha Sasuke is a missing-nin. Surely, he'll be interrogated and imprisoned until his trial. In all likelihood, he'll be sentenced to execution. He won't need a 'place to live'. Why are you getting Naruto's hopes up like this? It will only hurt him more in the end." She was very upset at the callousness of the Hokage's actions.

Tsunade waved that away. "You and I both know the council would do anything to resurrect the Uchiha clan. They aren't going to kill the boy any time soon; at least not until he has produced several offspring." Tsunade was thinking fast; while it was true about the council's desires, she knew he also would have to talk to Ibiki at some point. "Speaking of Ibiki, I want you to send for him. I'd like to discuss things with him."

"Hai, Hokage-sama! I'll send for him right away!" Shizune bowed low and left to do as asked.

"Smart move, Tsunade-sama, sending for Ibiki now." Kakashi entered through the open window behind the Hokage.

Tsunade didn't even turn around; she had sensed his presence shortly after her assistant had entered. "So you heard. It might be a good idea to keep an eye on Shizune to make sure she doesn't go running to the council. How is the plan coming along, Kakashi?"'

They talked for awhile until they sensed Shizune returning to the outer office, then Kakashi left. Silently climbing out the window, with a new mission to complete: keep Shizune and the council seperated.

Ibiki was briefed on the origins of the Uchiha massacre; if he was surprised, he didn't let it show. He couldn't help show it, though, when Tsunade informed him that Uchiha Sasuke had already returned and was living in his old home. She then told the chief interrogator about her plan to take down the elders, and asked for his cooperation. After hearing all the facts, he agreed. He also agreed to wait until tomorrow to speak to the Uchiha brat. After all, the Uchiha was a member of the team that brought him and his younger brother together again. With a slight nod, he departed.

Kakashi had gone to the academy first thing next morning to talk to Iruka. They discussed the new curriculum that Iruka meant to implement this morning in class, with the copy-nin giving his assessment of it. They made a few small changes, before they declared it complete. Just in time, too; students began to filter into the room. Kakashi slapped Iruka's ass before disappearing in a swirl of leaves, leaving the chuunin with a bright red face and a room full of curious children.

Appearing in the Hokage tower, Kakashi went to seek out the Hokage's assistant. He found her walking out of Tsunade's office, her hands full of completed paperwork. He relieved her of half the stack, eye-smiling at her. "Where do you want these?" he asked.

Shizune looked startled, then with a slight smile, told him to follow her. They engaged in idle conversation as they walked. Reaching a storeroom, they placed them on a table to later be sorted and filed.

"Well, Kakashi-san, thank you for your help; I appreciated it. You should get back to whatever it was you were doing; I need to make sure Tsunade is still working." Shizune turned to leave, but Kakashi stopped her.

"You have been here for a few years now, but I never see you having any fun. How about we go to lunch and get to know one another better?" Kakashi said with a smile. Even with his mask on it was easy to see.

A light pink tinted the young woman's cheeks. "S-sure, I'd like that. It is about time to eat anyway. Are we going anywhere in particular?"

They ended up eating at the barbecue restaurant, and Shizune was amazed to find she was having a good time. They talked about their duties in their respective branches of ninja life, their dreams for the future, and other topics that interested them. Before she knew it, the afternoon was over, and the sun was setting.

"Oh! I didn't mean to be gone so long! Tsunade-sama will be angry that I've been neglecting my work; I've got to go!" With a bow and an apology for cutting their time short, Shizune hurried back to the tower.

Kakashi sat back and ordered a bottle of sake. He wasn't sure he could keep this up for very long. Shizune was a nice enough person, but she wasn't really his type. He didn't know if he even had a type; thoughts of a certain chuunin came to mind. Now that was more his type: cute, fun-loving, dedicated Iruka. The silver-haired nin had never really given much thought to his sexuality before, but now that he did, he wasn't too surprised. He had always spent more time around males growing up, and preferred their crude humor and straight-forward thinking to the intricacies of the female psyche. Not to mention, women got vicious when angry. Thinking of an angry Tsunade, Kakashi shuddered and finished his drink. He paid the bill and left to go find more tolerable company for the evening.

Iruka was thinking of how well class went today. He was currently walking home from his job at the mission office, not paying much attention to his surroundings, so it took him off-guard when a person suddenly appeared in front of him.

"Yo!"

Clutching the front of his vest, it took a moment for Iruka to recognize the person as one Hatake Kakashi, fellow conspirator. "What are you doing here? I thought you'd be off on your mission watching Shizune," he hissed lowly.

"Maa, we spent the entire afternoon together. She had to get back to work, and I don't know how long I can do this. Part of a ninja's job is deception, but I don't want to lead her on, thinking that we could become a couple. She's nice enough, but I am just not interested in her." Kakashi rubbed the back of his neck. No, he was more interested in the person standing before him, but how to tell him that? They hardly knew each other, and their only real common link was Naruto. "Tell you what, how about we tell each other about our day over dinner?" If nothing else, he'd at least get to spend some time getting to know the younger man.

Iruka had all the ingredients for a meal prepared in his refrigerator, so he suggested they go there to eat. That way no one could overhear their conversation, either. No telling who might be listening if they were to go to a public place.

Iruka led the copy-nin to his house and ushered him inside. He went straight to the kitchen and started fixing the meal, while telling Kakashi about the children's responses to his new subject matter. The kids had been quite stunned to find out that the text books lied; knowing that the fox demon was still alive but sealed for all eternity didn't make any difference to them. They seemed to be proud to know that there was a ninja in their village strong enough to hold the beast at bay. Iruka hadn't told them who the container was, though many asked. He had also explained the reasons behind the Uchiha massacre; that it was done as a mission to prevent a civil war. There were tons of questions about that! After all, Uchiha Itachi was labled a missing-nin after slaying his clan. Many wanted to know why, and more wanted to know why it had to be Itachi. Iruka answered the questions as best as he could, but had no idea why Itachi, a thirteen-year-old, had to be the one to kill his family. As much as he loved Konoha, that part struck Iruka as being wrong. And missing-nin!? The boy should have been labled a hero, just like Naruto. Shaking his head, Iruka finally set two plates of food on the table, and the two ate in companionable silence.

After they were done eating, Iruka washed the dishes while listening to Kakashi describe his 'date' with Shizune. He finished by saying, "What if she begins to think I'm some mad stalker? I don't even like her that well! This can only end badly." Kakashi hung his head, thinking of his funeral once the poison mistress found out she was nothing but a mission to him. He really didn't like toying with people's emotions, unless they were his students, that is.

Iruka came over and squatted in front of the man, placing a hand on the other's arm. "Once this is over, you can explain it to her. She's a sensible woman, and a shinobi as well. She'll understand."

One dark eye met two brown ones. Kakashi was entranced; without thinking of the consequences, he leaned forward and planted a chaste kiss on the chuunin's lips. Drawing back to see what kind of response he would get, he watched Iruka's trembling hand move to his lips. A look of wonder settled over the younger man's face.

"Ka-Kakashi? Wh-What was that f-for?" Iruka stuttered, reminding himself of a former pupil, Hyuuga Hinata. His face sported a rosy glow.

Kakashi couldn't help but to chuckle; Iruka looked sooo cute! "Did you like it? If you want, next time we can do it without the mask," he teased. He should have had his Sharingan exposed. One minute he was seated in a chair, and the next, he was on his back on the kitchen floor, mask off and a VERY horny sensei ravishing Kakashi's mouth with his tongue.

Iruka limped into class the next morning with a smile wide enough to split his face in half. He immediately started the day's lesson, ignoring the whispers from the children. He didn't even yell when he caught one youngster throwing paper shuriken at another student. He smiled as he collected those already thrown, as well as the ones the boy had hidden in his lap. The class behaved the rest of the day. A smiling Iruka-sensei was scary! One didn't know what to expect of him next. ...And so the day went.

Naruto was in the Uchiha's kitchen arguing with Sasuke, while the members of Eagle watched in amusement. Sasuke was making onigiri and miso soup for breakfast, and Naruto wanted ramen. What else? The Uchiha was being adamant; no one was having ramen for breakfast in his house. If the dobe wanted ramen, he could go to Ichiraku's. The problem was that poor Gama-chan was practically empty after buying food for the house, and buying materials to repair the place. Sasuke should have paid for all that stuff!, but since he couldn't very well go outside yet, the least he could do is let Naruto have his ramen. Naruto pouted, arms crossed as he sat at the table waiting for the meal to be fixed. Who knew onigiri took so long to make!? After an eternity (in Naruto's opinion), the food was set on the table and they all quickly filled their plates, even Naruto.

Naruto was also a little put-out with the raven beforehand. Their first night in the Uchiha's house, Sasuke had assigned rooms for everyone to sleep in. This would have been alright if he hadn't insisted that the blond share with him. The first night, the bastard had pulled out a musty old futon for Naruto to sleep on. Needless to say, it smelled of mildew and was exceedingly lumpy. The blond did NOT have a restful night. Then, last night Sasuke said he was tired of hearing the other complaining, and told Naruto he could share his own bed.

Sleep for the blond hadn't been any more restful last night, either. He was unused to sleeping with another person, and when he finally drifted to sleep, he had disturbing dreams. Dreams of cuddling with the raven, and kissing him. Naruto was sure that boys were supposed to dream about doing those things with girls, not other boys. When he thought about Sasuke, though, and laying in bed with him, Naruto got a funny feeling in his stomach and thought it felt right, somehow. Sasuke had told him it was just to keep Karin from trying to sneak into his room in the middle of the night. For a reason unknown (to the naive blond), the idea of Karin in Sasuke's bed made Naruto feel a bit jealous. Why should he be jealous if a girl was with Sasuke in his bed? It's not like it effected him personally. No. Just, if anyone shared the Uchiha's bed it should be the blond. After all, they were best friends, right? Right.

Lost in his musings, Naruto didn't notice when everyone got up, washed their dishes, and left the room. A sharp rap on his head brought him back to awareness. Turning, he looked up to see the raven gazing at him, one eyebrow cocked and an amused smirk on his face.

"What's the matter, Usurakontachi? Still mad you had no ramen to eat?"

"Teme! That's not it." Naruto looked away with a blush staining his cheeks. He couldn't tell Sasuke, of all people, what he had just thought; it was too embarassing. Thinking through it in his head, it made him sound like a love-sick girl! No way! No way was he going to start acting like Sakura used to act. Besides, he did NOT love the Uchiha! Nope, not at all!

Sasuke had had enough of playing with the blond baka. Tonight, he would tell the boy his true feelings. If he was right, and where Naruto was concerned he usually was, the blond shared the same feelings for him. Tonight. Definitely. For now, he just wanted to see how much the other had grown in strength. He suggested they have a spar, and to take his mind off confusing things, Naruto agreed. However, the boys didn't get a chance.

Henged to look like a Naruto clone, Sasuke opened the door and was confronted by the somber image of the head of Konoha's Interrogation and Torture unit, Morino Ibiki himself.

Wondering why Sasuke hadn't gone through the door, Naruto walked up behind him. "Oi, teme! If we're going to spar, why are you just standing there?" Then he caught sight of the imposing figure. He gulped audibly, and started to back up, looking for an escape.

Ibiki smiled; presumably it was to calm the blond, but all Naruto thought was that it was plain creepy. "Now, now. I'm not here to hurt or arrest anyone. I just need to talk to the Uchiha here. You are Uchiha Sasuke, aren't you?" he asked, staring at the Naruto look-a-like who had opened the door.

Sasuke gave a solemn nod, indicating that the man should enter. Shutting the door, he led the way to the livingroom and offered the man a seat. Did Tsunade send him here? Being an Uchiha came in handy at times like this; Sasuke betrayed none of the nervousness that this man provoked. Not many things scared Sasuke, but this man did. He was head of his department for a reason: He was good at his job, and he LIKED it. The raven dropped the henge and sat across from the man, ready to be put through hell.

It was after noon before Ibiki took his leave. He had thoroughly interrogated the Uchiha, asking questions about his involvement with Orochimaru. He had Sasuke describe his training under the snake sannin in detail, stopping the boy occasionally to ask for clarification on some point or other. Ibiki asked about the snake's plans, and Sasuke's own participation in said plans. He questioned the whereabouts of Orochimaru now, about Hebi, and lastly on the fight between the two Uchiha brothers. Sasuke completed his recitation by explaining what Madara had told him. Ibiki gazed at him before allowing a slight smile. He then stood and walked to the door. Just prior to closing it behind him, he turned and said, "Welcome home, Uchiha Sasuke." The door closed with an audible click.

Tsunade was having a bad day, so bad she almost regretted the plans she had made with Naruto, Sasuke and their teams. Kakashi wasn't needed today, because she was keeping Shizune by her side to help deal with the villagers. The Hokage's office was crammed full of angry villagers, all wanting Naruto banished. More waited in the outer office.

The fish vendor had been the first to appear; it seemed his stand had been overrun that morning, soon after setting up, by every stray cat in the village. Even the cat from hell, Tora, had visited. Not only had the felines stolen fish, but some chose to eat right there on the stand. Nothing would deter the foul beasts. He was positive the 'demon child' was behind this.

A stampede of oxen had destroyed several other stands. No one knew what set them off, but Naruto had been seen walking away from the point of origin.

The homes and businesses of several upstanding citizens had been defaced some time during the night. Some even had the message, "Who's the REAL demon in Konoha?" Of course, they blamed Naruto.

A major reason why the blond was accused was that his favorite place to eat, Ichiraku Ramen, had been left untouched.

Fighting off a major headache, Tsunade screamed, "EVERYONE JUST SHUT THE HELL UP! Shizune, get Ibiki in here now; I don't care what else he's doing. GO!"

"Hai, Hokage-sama!" Shizune raced out the door on her quest to find the man.

By the time, Shizune returned, Tsunade had dealt with ten more complaintants. Two she had punched through the wall, temporarily receiving a reprieve from the noise. Once the men were carted off to the hospital, however, the bickering resumed. Relief flooded her face as her eyes spotted the ANBU specialist. Staring at the interrogator, the blonde stated loud enough for everyone in the offices to hear, "Ibiki, please tell us why Naruto could not have done any of these things. He's said to have been in the market district today causing havoc."

Knowing what she wanted, the large man turned to the crowd and said, "Uzumaki Naruto could not have done what you are accusing him of. I know, for I have spent the last several hours with the boy over in the Uchiha district. And he didn't make any clones all morning. Does anyone care to call me a liar?" He glanced around at the stunned faces of the angry mob. A brave (or foolhardy) soul piped up about having seen the boy with his own eyes just after the stampede. Ibiki laughed. "This is a ninja village; one of the first jutsu students are taught at the academy is henge. Any shinobi could have done it; are you going to accuse all of them? How many witnessed Uzumaki's return to the village the other day? Everyone with him was henged to look like him, and he even had clones mixed into the group. But there is only one Uzumaki Naruto, and I was with the young man all morning."

The crowd mumbled and muttered, but soon dispersed. None looked very happy. Ibiki turned to Tsunade and bowed, following afterwards. Tsunade had to hide her smirk when he had winked prior to departing.

The Hokage turned to her assistant and asked for the next stack of papers to sign as though nothing untoward had occurred.


	5. Chapter 5

The Revenge

Disclaimer: Kishimoto Masashi owns Naruto; I only wish I did.

WARNING!: Manga spoilers! OOCness.

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The Konoha Twelve had been busy; all their sensei, Inuzuka Tsume and Hana, Yamanaka Inoichi, Akamichi Chouza, Nara Shikaku, Hyuuga Hiashi and the whole Hyuuga clan, Aburame Shibi, all the special jounin, and all of the members of regular ANBU had joined the conspiracy. None liked the news that the council was doing as they liked with little regard for others, and absolutely no consequences. Sai had also made a few converts among ROOT. Soon, the axe would fall, and the council would pay.

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Naruto had had a trying day. After Ibiki left, Sasuke was quiet, refusing to talk to the blond, yet wouldn't let Naruto leave the house. Bored, the blond had tried to find something to do. However, every thing he tried pissed off the Uchiha. He'd tried drawing; Sasuke put a stop to that. Of course, it might have been because Naruto couldn't find any paper and so had drawn on the walls. The same happened when he wanted to write. He decided to clean up the place, not that it needed much, but he made too much noise. Needing to burn off some energy, Naruto started to make clones; and he made clones; and he made more clones.

"NARUTO!! STOP MAKING CLONES, DAMNIT!!" A very angry Uchiha pushed his way through the mass of orange-clad copies, punching quite a few out of existance. When he reached the original, he looked ready to explode. "Naruto, if I agree to a light spar with you, will you stop?! I'm trying to think here!"

"Ne, Sasuke? Where is everyone? They've been gone since breakfast." In his search to relieve his boredom, he had searched the entire house for the others. They were not around.

"Dobe, they are all out doing what they are supposed to do to ensure our plan ends in success. Now, are we going to spar, or just stand here staring at one another?" Quirking an eyebrow, Sasuke stared at the blond.

Naruto raised his fist and shouted, "Hell, yeah!", and headed for the door. Then he stopped and turned back to look at the Uchiha. "Um, Sasuke? Where are we going to spar?"

Getting a disgusted look on his face and shaking his head, he muttered, "Dobe." Louder he said, "Come, I'll show you where we Uchiha's used to practice." Sasuke led the way out the door, heading for a wooded area in the disrict. The blond followed silently.

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Naruto and Sasuke had been sparring for about two and a half hours before they paused to catch their breath. They both sat down leaning against a tree, too tired to speak at the moment. Their peace was disturbed by a certain silver-haired ninja.

"Naruto, the Godaime needs to see you in her office right away." Kakashi waited as Naruto regained his feet, and nodding to the Uchiha, led the way back to the Hokage tower.

Nearing the tower, the blond spotted Gamabunta and a larger-than-last-seen Gamakichi sitting on his father's head. The two younger of the four were kept from talking with one another, which puzzled the young ninja. He followed Kakashi into Tsunade's office only to find several others already there. There were four unknown toads, Sakura, Sai, Shizune, and the Hokage herself, Tsunade. All wore sad expressions on their faces. Naruto was confused.

Tsunade began to speak, introducing Naruto to the toads, and saying he was the 'child of prophesy'.

Naruto started to get angry as he listened to her and the elderly toad speak of Jiraiya. After a while, Naruto couldn't stand it anymore. "Why the hell do you keep talking about Ero-sennin like that!? And who is this old toad, anyway?"

It was the toad who spoke up. "How can I put this delicately? No way but to just say it: Boy, Jiraiya died in battle."

"Huh? Wh-What are you talking about? Ero-sennin is strong! No way could he be...d-d-dead!" Blue eyes were filling with tears that Naruto refused to let fall. This old toad had to be lying! He couldn't lose another of his precious people! This had to be a trick! He had just found out the old man was his godfather, after all. He wanted to get to know the man better, and find out more about his parents! Clenching his fists at his sides, Naruto hung his head with eyes shut tight, body trembling.

"Na-Naruto..." Sakura began.

"NO! You're all lying! You're lying..." With that, the young blond bolted from the room. He crashed into people on his way from the building, but didn't stop, even to apologize. Tearing through the village, ignoring cries from vendors with overturned carts and people picking themselves off the ground, Naruto finally stopped when he realized he was standing on the Yondaime's head. This place had always had a calming effect on him. Sitting down and looking blankly out over the village, Naruto let the tears stream unchecked down his cheeks.

Hours later, he was found fast asleep. Sasuke shook his head at the sight, then picked the younger boy up and headed back to his house. He didn't worry about being seen, since most of the villagers had turned in for the night, and only a few ANBU were seen patrolling. None bothered to stop and question him for which he was thankful. He received questioning looks from his other housemates, but silenced them with a shake of his head and a swift glare. He walked swiftly to his room and lay the blond on the bed, pulling the covers over his chest. He quietly sat on the edge of the bed, gazing at Naruto. He understood the blond's pain better than anyone, and only wished to ease it. He stood, turned off the light, and exited leaving the door slightly ajar so he could hear if the boy awoke.

When he entered the livingroom, he spoke up to forestall any questions. "Naruto just found out his sensei, Jiraiya-sama, is dead. Before you ask, no, I don't know the whole story yet, but Naruto was very close to the old man. Don't ask him about it; don't even mention it in his hearing. He's upset enough as it is." Sasuke then changed the subject by asking how things were coming with their plans. It was late before Sasuke found himself back in the room he shared with Naruto, gazing at the boy's sleeping face. 'I'll help you avenge his death, Dobe. I promise you.' He then climbed into bed and pulled the other into his arms. "I promise," he whispered as his eyes closed in sleep.

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"Tsunade, where is the demon?" demanded the councilwoman, Utatane Koharu.

Tsunade had been deep in the task of clearing her desk by reading and signing all the papers, when the two hated elders entered unannounced. Her eye twitched at the word, 'demon', but she held her temper in check. Leaning back in her chair, the Hokage stared at the two in front of her desk. After a few minutes of silence, she spoke. "What is it you want now?"

Mitokado Homura snorted in distain; did this woman think they were stupid? Pushing his glasses up farther on his nose, he replied. "Tsunade, we know you met with him yesterday. We also know that the toads were here. What did you discuss? Where is the boy now? We know he's been hiding somewhere in the village, but for what purpose? As members of the council, we need to know everything concerning the kyuubi-container." Both he and his old teammate glared at the slug sannin, expecting an answer.

Tsunade gave a snort of her own, but of mirth. "Get real! Naruto hasn't been hiding; he's been seen all over the village. He's trained, met with his friends for ramen, even been to the market. As for why the toads were here, they came to give their condolences to the boy. If it has slipped your minds, Jiraiya was the boy's sensei for three years. He just learned Jiraiya died; he's probably off somewhere grieving." The Godaime glared at the two elders, wishing to get back to work, and hoping they'd take the hint.

Koharu leaned across the desk, putting her face close to Tsunade's. "If you're lying, you'll regret it. Inform us as soon as he returns from his 'grieving'." She then turned and walked out the door, Homura a step behind.

Tsunade sighed and removed a sake bottle hidden in her desk. Pouring herself a drink, she thought, 'Sure, I'll let you know when he returns. If you're still around by then.' Allowing a smile to grace her lips, she took a sip and began to read the next document.

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Sasuke had been moping around his house all day. Naruto was gone, and he hadn't confessed his feelings. A messenger had arrived before dawn and requested that Uzumaki Naruto meet with the Hokage in her quarters. In less than an hour, the blond was back, and packing his equipment. When asked, he responded that the toads planned to train him to be the new Toad Sage. Soon, he was gone, and Sasuke was left sitting on his bed, staring off into space.

Part of their plan to take down the Elders depended on Naruto's presence. Seeing as they were so hung up on keeping tabs on his whereabouts and what he was doing, they might become suspicious if he's no where to be found for an extended period of time. Sasuke decided that that wasn't going to happen. Shaking off his depression, he grinned to himself andmade a few plans of his own.

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"Ohayo, Naruto!" called a pink-haired kunoichi, waving.

"Ohayo, Sakura-chan!" The blond shinobi smirked; if he could fool Sakura, he could fool anyone. "Want to go get some ramen with me?"

'Naruto and his ramen-obsession!' Sakura smiled to herself. "I have to get to the hospital for my shift now. Maybe later." So saying, she hurried off.

Sasuke decided to try out his henge on larger fish. Making his way into the Hokage tower, he barged into Tsunade's office. "Oi, Baa-chan! Got any missions for me?"

The Hokage looked up from her papers in shock; what was he still doing here? He's supposed to be with the toads, training. Taking a closer look, she noticed some slight differences; this wasn't Naruto, but someone using a very strong henge. "Alright, close the door, gaki." When done, Tsunade rested her elbows on her desk and laced her fingers together. "Why are you disguised as Naruto, Uchiha?" By the stunned look in his eyes followed by a smirk, she knew she had guessed right.

The Uchiha pulled a chair near the desk and sat down. "Naruto's gone; if the council finds out, who knows what they'll do? I figured that if he were seen around the village doing normal stuff, they will relax. How did you know it was me and not someone else?" He leaned back and laced his fingers behind his head, waiting for an answer.

Snickering, the blonde sannin turned to face the window. "You did a pretty decent job; you got the blond hair, blue eyes and whisker marks right, but you forgot one thing. You didn't change your hairstyle, Uchiha. It still looks like the ass-end of a chicken."

Sasuke's eyebrow twitched; did she just insult his hair?! But she had a point, now that he thought about it. Doing some hand signs, a puff of smoke surrounded him. When it dissipated, a perfect copy of the loud-mouthed ninja sat in the chair. Sasuke now had a self-satisfied air about him. As long as he didn't perform any of his new jutsu, and didn't do the Chidori, no one should recognize him. He just needed to remember to act like the Dobe.

Tsunade had turned to look when she heard the poof, and she was impressed. It was almost impossible to tell that this person wasn't Naruto. "Uchiha, that's good, but Naruto should be in mourning for his sensei right now. Do you think you can pull off a convincing impersonation? If he were to act this cheerful, we would all know it to be a mask. You'll need to work on that. If there's nothing else you wanted, you're dismissed."

Sasuke threw her another smirk, and stood, heading for the door. Just before closing it, he called, "Okay, I'll check back with you later, Baa-chan!" huge smile on his face.

"Don't call me that, gaki!!" A paperweight shattered against the closed door, and a snicker was heard.

Shizune entered the office, throwing a look over her shoulder. "What did Naruto want? I thought he'd be off moping somewhere over Jiraiya-sama's death, but he seemed happy."

The Hokage glanced at her assistant. "Naruto mourns in his own way; he was here to see if I'd let him take a mission. I think he wants the chance to be completely alone for awhile."

With a gasp, Shizune blurted, "You didn't give him one, did you? You know the council doesn't want him to leave the village at this time."

Scowling, Tsunade turned to the window. "Shizune, how I run this village is my affair, not the council's. Naruto is a shinobi of the Leaf, and as such is mine to command. They have no say on whether or not he can take a mission. If I think it's too dangerous for him to leave, I'll refuse to give him any. Now, is there anything else? Something you wanted?" She swung back to face the younger woman, face still marred by a frown.

Shizune set the stack of papers on the corner of the desk, and without another word, but with a worried glance at her mentor, left.

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Naruto arrived at Mount Myobokugama, riding atop Gamabunta, as he had been since shortly after leaving the village. He was escorted to Fukasaku, the elderly toad he had briefly met with in Tsunade's office. There were toads of all sizes filling the room, and they all acknowledged him. Gamakichi and Gamatatsu called a warm welcome to the blond as he passed. All seemed in good spirits. If the boy's training went well, there would soon be a new Toad Sage in the land.


	6. Chapter 6

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 6 Happenings xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Review replies (since I can't remember who I PMd in response to):

angel61991: Thanks, glad you like it.

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Kantra: Thank you for your reviews as well as the support in your PMs to me! I appreciate it.

Halskr: I'm really glad you like this fic! It's the first I've posted here.

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Tme skip xxxxxx

Ichiraku Teuchi awoke to find that he was no longer immune to the pranks. When he went to open his ramen stand, he found it to be painted a blinding orange. Not only that, but the sign now read, "Uzumaki's Ramen". Scowling fiercely, he set about repainting the sign. He decided as soon as that was accomplished, he'd go ahead and open shop. If business was slow today, he'd just close early, and then he could paint over the obscene color.

He couldn't really say he blamed the kids; if he was the only one not being pranked, people would start speculating whether or not he was in on it. That's the last thing anyone wanted. He was also aware that Naruto himself would never do this to him. Over the years, he had fed the young boy, often free of charge, just so he'd know the child had at least one warm meal each day.

Smiling at the memories, Teuchi set about making the day's ramen.

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Over the last several months, Sasuke had learned another side of himself; he enjoyed pulling pranks on people. In his persona as the Dobe, he was responsible for more pranks than the three genin known as KonohamaruKorp combined. The Uchiha hated how the people of this village treated his friend through the years, and since Naruto wasn't here to exact his revenge, Sasuke was doing it for him.

He snickered to himself, imagining the look on Ichiraku-san's face when he saw his shop. Knowing that the man was aware of Naruto's name change, he knew the man would know that the blond hadn't done the job, simply because of the new name on the sign. Idly, he wondered to himself how long the old man would leave the building orange. Sasuke couldn't remember a time he'd had so much fun, if ever.

For his next job, he'd have to be careful not to get caught. An angry Hokage was a scary thing. With that thought in mind, he began to make his plans.

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All the shonobi in on the conspiracy had been constantly working to undermine the authority of the council. Whenever the council made a decree, they ignored it. If a member of the council gave them an order, they agreed, then did the opposite. All had declared that the only one whose orders were valid, was the Hokage herself. Of course, they never said that in the hearing of anyone loyal to the Elders. That would have just been suicide.

The villagers wondered what was happening to their pleasant little home. Shinobi wandered the streets, laughing and joking amongst themselves. Very few missions were being done if so many were free to roam the streets. Why had the Elders not done anything about this!? Reports of vandalism were taken with a disinterested air and not followed up on.

The legendary copy-nin, Hatake Kakashi, was seen frequently escorting the Godaime's assistant. They were often seen dining together, or sitting on a park bench talking. Many theorized that the jounin realized he was getting older, and was ready to settle down and start a family. Maybe there would be a wedding in the near future! None seemed to notice that the two never kissed or held hands, nor that when Kakashi left Shizune for the night, he went straight to the home of a certain chuunin sensei.

Said sensei was delighted in this group of students; they all paid attention and were well behaved. Little did he realize that his reputation for getting angry had preceeded him. Students who had older siblings who had been taught by Iruka-sensei, had told them horror stories about the punishments the man could come up with for the smallest infraction of the rules. These had been passed on to those without older brothers or sisters. The chuunin who currently was teaching them was nothing like they'd been told, and frankly, it scared them. A bubblingly happy Iruka-sensei was seen as a multitude of explosive tags rolled into one person; therefore, since no one knew what might set him off, everybody behaved.

Hyuuga Hiashi and the other clan heads often were called to meetings with the village Elders. These meetings seemed to be primarily so the Elders could vent their frustrations. Tsunade had done nothing to put a stop to the vandalism. Also, she disregarded their orders concerning the kyuubi-brat, and sent him out on missions with his team. Danzou ranted how the Senju woman was ruining their village, and that they needed a stronger leader, someone more like himself, perhaps. The clan heads all laughed to themselves; if the council knew what was really going on, they'd truly panic.

Afterwards, the clan heads reported everything said in these meetings to the Hokage. If they could get any hard evidence of betrayal to the village or Hokage, the council of the village Elders could be taken down without loss of life. That was what they all desired, as well as restitution for the wrongs the Elders have commited in the name of Konohagakure.

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Tsunade took time off each week and disappeared for hours at a time. Many times the woman returned tired and in a foul mood. Shizune worried that her mentor had found a way to gamble, and was racking up the debts again. She prayed she was wrong.

In truth, the chief medic-nin was meeting with Juugo, analyzing his blood. If they could figure out what caused the curse, then maybe she could come up with a cure. The tall man was really very gentle, and communicated with birds. This ability would be a blessing on a mission as he could question them about others in the area, and get intel on targets without anyone taking the chance to get close to observe. But until Tsunade came up with a cure, sending Juugo anywhere was too precarious. If he were to become angered, the curse might activate, endangering his teammates as well as the enemy.

Months had passed since Tsunade began her research and she finally had a breakthrough. Prior to telling Juugo, though, she needed to find a way to neutralize the curse. Unfortunately, for that she had to have the help of Shizune. How to keep the secret and still get the young woman's assistance in manufacturing a cure? Hm... Tsunade decided to just wing it.

"Shizune!"

In answer to the summons, the black-haired young woman entered the office. "Did you need something Hokage-sama?" Shizune waited patiently for a response.

"I need your assistance. You are very well-versed with making poisons and their antidotes, correct?" Without waiting for a reply, she hurried on. "I have run across some blood samples infected with an unusual poison. These are the properties of the substance; I have tried myself to create an effective antidote, but all my efforts were fruitless. That's where you come in; with your knowledge of poisons maybe you can succeed where I failed." Tsunade shoved a stack of papers across the desk to Shizune.

Picking the first sheet up and reading over it, Shizune let out a gasp. 'So this is what Tsunade-sama has been doing when she leaves!' She was relieved that the older blond wasn't indulging in old habits, but where did she get this!? The chemical make-up of the substance was unique, but she was sure she could do as asked. She was a poison-mistress, after all. "Tsunade-sama...Where did you get this? Is this...this...the curse seal? It makes sense that Orochimaru would use something like this. If you gave an antidote for any one of the poisons, then the others would end up killing the person. You have to make something that is a conglomeration of all the antidotes, and make sure it neutralizes the poison without killing the patient. It will be tricky, but I'll start right on it immediately." Flipping through the pages, she walked out of the office, never noticing the smirk that graced the Godaime's face.

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Iruka was surprised to see his lover as he exited the Academy. "What are you doing here?" he hissed quietly. Raising his voice a little, he said, "I thought you'd be out on a date with your 'girlfriend'. Where's Shizune-san this afternoon?"

"Maa. Tsunade has her working on some top-secret project. She apologized, and said she wouldn't be able to see me for awhile. Some medical experiment of some kind." Kakashi was just as glad for the brush-off; he was running out of topics to discuss with the medic-nin, anyway. Maybe now he could spend more quality time with his dolphin.

The two men went to eat, then headed to the chuunin's apartment for more amenable activities. Kakashi couldn't wait for the beast to again be unleashed. Dominant ukes really turned him on! Who would ever have guessed?

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Fukasaku called for Naruto to be sent in. A short while later, the blond young man confidently strode through the entranceway. "You wanted to speak with me, Fukasaku-sama?" Other toads filled the room to capacity, an expectant tension surrounding all.

The old toad gazed fondly at the teenager. He had enjoyed the youth's presence on their mountain, but now was the time to say good-bye. The boy had the dedication and determination to learn, reminding him of a young Jiraiya, and had completed all tasks assigned, no matter what they were. With a heavy heart, Fukasaku made his proclamation. "Young Naruto-kun, it is my duty to declare that you have completed your training with us." Raising his voice so that all heard, he boomed out, "Namikaze Naruto, I hereby proclaim you as the new Toad Sage of Mount Myobokugama! With the powers bestowed upon you, as the Child of Destiny, you will either save the shinobi world as we know it, or bring it crashing down. Go home now with our blessings, and may Kami-sama guide you."

The room filled with the sound of croaks and cheers, almost deafening Naruto. He felt a tightening in his chest and a suspicious stinging in his eyes. The time he had spent among the toads meant alot to him. Not only had they trained him, but they had told him stories about Jiraiya's time here. He had learned so much more about his deceased mentor, probably more than Tsunade knew. He was proud to follow in the footsteps of such a man. Turning on his heel, he left the chamber without a word, to go pack for his return to Konoha.

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"Tsunade-sama!! I think I've found it!" Shizune burst into the Hokage's office, waving papers in her hand. She came to an abrupt stop, however, seeing her friend and mentor. Tsunade had just lifted her head from the document she had been drooling on, eyes bleary with sleep. She groggily turned to face her older apprentice.

Long blonde hair was no longer in its characteristic two ponytails, nor was it long. Apparently, someone had slipped in while the slug sannin slept, and done a make-over on her. Blonde hair was now short and spiky, reminding Shizune of a certain loud-mouthed prankster. Black whisker-marks adorned Tsunade's cheeks, and she was wearing an orange jacket.

Shizune was quickly getting over her shock as the absurdity of the situation dawned on her. A hand flew to her mouth to try to stifle the fit of giggles that threatened to spill forth, but to no avail. Breaking into raucous laughter, Shizune fell to the floor, holding her sides as tears made tracks down her cheeks. She was sure someone was going to pay dearly for this! But it was just too funny. Tsunade must have been passed out drunk for someone to get close enough to do this to her. The thing was, Shizune was fairly certain the woman hadn't had a drop of sake in months. This thought sobered the younger woman quickly. How did they do it? Tsunade-sama was a first-class ninja; no way could somebody have done this without inside help. And the first person the Hokage would suspect would be HER! Oh, NO!!

Tsunade stared in surprise at the usually sedate woman. 'What's up with her!?' Tsunade thought, confused. Leaning back in her chair to watch Shizune's antics, it took a moment before she realized something was wrong. Not with Shizune, but with herself. She could feel a breeze on her neck, and glancing down, she saw she was wearing an orange jacket; not just any jacket, either, but one of Naruto's! What the hell!? Shooting a look back at her now nervous assistant, she stood and walked to the washroom, and stared at her reflection in the mirror. "OH!! MY!! GOD!!" People on the streets of Konoha shivered, and stared at the Hokage Tower in apprehension as the shriek of horror resounded throughout the village. Tsunade attempted to scrub the whiskers off her face with no success. It seems they were made with a permanent marker or something of the like. As for her hair, well, a certain Uchiha would pay, and pay dearly. She let that go for the timebeing, since it would grow back, but the spikes had to go. Pulling out a comb and wetting it, she set to work removing the ton of hair gel, and flattening it.

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Sasuke was visiting with his former sensei and current team captain in Kakashi's apartment when a horrified scream was heard. "Kakashi, you two don't mind if I hang out here awhile longer, do you?" Receiving an "Okay" from both, he made a decision. "As you know, Naruto was staying with me after we came back to the village. Part of that was to help repair the buildings of the Uchiha district, but the real reason I asked him to stay is because I...well I...I kinda like him. And I was wondering if you...um...know anything..." The stoic Uchiha paused here, blushing fit to rival Hinata.

Momentarily stunned by the confession, Iruka soon broke out in an understanding smile. "I guess what you want to know is how to..." He was interrupted by the copy-nin.

"Ooh, I want to do it! Let me tell him!" The jounin was extremely happy; not only did he get to instruct his former student on the joys of gay sex, but he could torture the boy with graphic mental images. 'One of the perks to being a sensei,' he snickered to himself. "First, you have to make your move; get in close and kiss him. Doesn't matter how you do it. As soon as he melts into your arms, use your tongue to get him to open his mouth, and tongue-wrestle. Show him who's dominant. Break the kiss and kiss and lick a trail down his jaw and neck, slowly removing his shirt while you're at it. Next, you..."

Sasuke listened intently, blushing an ever deepening red as Kakashi added more details. By the time the crash course was over, he had a nosebleed as well, and Iruka's face matched the Uchiha's. Sasuke stood to leave, not noticing the tenting in his pants, causing the jounin to snicker and the chuunin to try to stop the teen from going.

As Iruka was about to speak, a commotion reached their ears. Soon, a massive killer intent was felt by all three in the room. It seemed to be emanating from outside Kakashi's front door. Before either sensei could move, two things happened. One, the front door was blasted off its hinges and an irate Tsunade stood there, fist still outstretched. Two, Sasuke took off in a flash out the nearest window; no way was he staying around to be slaughtered.

Kakashi and Iruka stared at the village leader in awe. What had happened to their Hokage? The Godaime wore an orange jacket that looked suspiciously like one of Naruto's old ones. With the whisker-marks and short hair, she could have almost been the boy's twin.

"Where is he?" growled out the woman. "I know he was here; point me in the right direction." Two hands moved, pointing towards the open window.

Before she could follow, a tentative voice spoke up. "Ano, Hokage-sama? You do know you can't use his real name, don't you?"

Golden brown orbs turned to glare at the speaker. Kakashi sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck.

Iruka took this moment to ask the question that had been on his mind from the second he laid eyes on her. "Tsunade-sama, are you related to Naruto? I mean, if you spiked your hair, you'd look just like..." He got no further as the killing intent went up another notch, this time trained on the poor Academy sensei. He was sweating bullets now, and all he wanted was for her to leave. " 'Uzumaki-san' went that way. If you hurry, you can probably catch him. Bye, now!" Iruka brushed past the fuming Kage and practically ran all the way home, locking his door once he'd entered his apartment. He had never felt so close to dying; not when he received the scar across his nose, not even when Mizuki had attacked him, either time. That was one truly scary woman, and he prayed Sasuke had all his affairs in order.

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"Oi, Gamakichi! It's good to be home! Should I go see Sasuke, or maybe go see Ichiraku oji-san, and have a bowl of ramen?" Naruto and the young toad summons had travelled by foot all the way back to Konoha, and arrived just as the sun was beginning to set. He paused at the desk by the gates, showing his papers to the chuunin on duty, and was walking further into the village when a loud shout of "Uzumaki! You get back here!" was heard.

Naruto's eyes became as big around as saucers. Glancing over his shoulder at the two on duty, he saw them both with questioning looks on their faces as they first looked at each other, then at the blond. Their countenances darkened, and the chuunin determinedly marched towards him.

The blond teen waved his hands to fend the two off, as he slowly backed up. What was going on?! If he didn't know better, he'd have sworn that that was Tsunade-baa-chan's voice yelling just now. He didn't have time to contemplate on that right now, though; the chuunin were almost upon him. With a confused glance at his attackers, he turned and ran. No one noticed the medium-sized toad sitting by the gates, nor when he poofed out of existance.

Fifteen minutes later found the young man still running, trying to evade his pursuers. Rounding a corner, Namikaze Naruto ran "SMACK!" into another person, knocking both to the ground. Looking over to the other person, about to apologize, he was struck dumb. His mouth opened and closed, but no words would form.

The orange-clad teen glanced at the person he had knocked over and stared. Then, "Naruto? Is it really you!?"

For the second time in under two minutes, Naruto found himself flat on his back in the street. This time, he had another body lying on top of him, though. Arms pinning his own arms at his side, Naruto was being squeezed half to death, a nose nuzzling his ear.

"Ah HAH! Gotcha, gaki!"

Both Narutos looked up to see an angry Tsunade bearing down on them, and from the opposite direction came the chuunin. The Naruto look-alike jumped up and took off at a sprint in still a third direction, leaving the newly returning Namikaze to confusedly get back on his feet gazing off after the other person. Scratching the back of his head, Naruto pivoted around just in time to meet the fist of an irate Hokage. Peeling himself off the wall he had been imprinted into, Naruto shook his head trying to get his eyes to focus again. Once his vision cleared, he glanced up, saying, "Baa-chan! What was THAT for!?" Then he got a good look at the woman, and his jaw dropped.

The two chuunin had stopped in their tracks when they saw the Godaime reach the younger blonds. When the one ran, they stood still, unsure whether to chase him or capture the one that was left. They couldn't help but stare at their leader; wearing an orange jacket, with black whisker-marks on her cheeks, she could be an older female version of the boy in front of them. After the boy regained his feet for the second time, the shorter of the two guards couldn't help himself; he started to snicker. Not a wise move.

Fuming, Tsunade now turned a twitching eye on the chuunin. "Aren't you supposed to be somewhere?" she growled at them. As she began to advance, they took the hint, did a couple hand signs, and vanished. Turning back to the young blond, Tsunade said, "Naruto? Namikaze Naruto?" A smile appeared on her face, and before he could move, she had enveloped the young man in a crushing hug.

"Heheh. Baa-chan, it's good to see you, too. Now, can you let me go? It's kinda hard to breathe." In truth, Naruto was glad of the warm welcome, but he could have done without the punch.

Pushing away from the younger blond, Tsunade looked him over critically. "You've grown, haven't you? Did you learn everything the toads had to teach?"

Blue eyes sparkled, and a wide grin stretched the youth's face. "You bet! How about we get something to eat, and I'll tell you all about it?"

She agreed, and off the two whisker-marked blonds went to eat some ramen, Naruto chatting happily at the Hokage's side.

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Naruto walked into the darkened main house of the Uchiha complex. "Tadaima!" he called softly. He didn't want to wake anyone up; most of the people currently living here had serious attitude problems. He heard a rustling of cloth coming from the room to his left, then was glomped to the floor.

"Heheh, miss me, Sasuke?" he laughed, smiling at the raven pinning him to the floor. He got his answer when lips crushed his own. Eyes nearly bugging out, Naruto soon relaxed into the kiss, reaching up to wrap an arm around the Uchiha's neck. If this was the sort of welcome he got, maybe he should leave more often.

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A/N: Next chapter will be up Saturday night/Sunday morning, entitled, "Discussions". Please read and review! Thanks!


	7. Chapter 7

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Thank you to all who have reviewed, favorited and alerted.

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Sasuke hadn't slept all night; still, he felt more rested than he could ever remember feeling. He stared at the blond sleeping peacefully beside him, casually running his fingers through silky blond spikes. It had taken him years of trying to get the boy out of his head, unable to understand why he couldn't, before it finally hit him. Once he acknowledged his feelings for the other, everything became clear. Uchiha Sasuke was in love with the blond dobe.

He hadn't yet professed his love in words; that would have to wait till the other awoke. Sasuke trailed the back of his hand lightly across a tan, whiskered cheek. Musing to himself, he listed off all the things he loved about Naruto. Bright blue eyes that sparkled like the sun shining on the ocean, indicating the boy was planning mischief; sunshine yellow hair that brought a warmth to whoever saw it; a loud voice that let everyone know he was near; a laugh that could ring out like wind in crystal windchimes. Naruto's ability to think up amazing stategies at a moment's notice was awe-inspiring. So was his ability to change people; people who had hard lives, were depressed or pessimistic became optimistic about their futures. One of the most fantastic changes he caused was with the current Kazekage, Subaku no Gaara. That boy had lived to kill, nothing else; now, he was loved by his village and would do whatever was necessary to protect them. The change he had wrought in Sasuke himself was equally amazing.

Who would have guessed four years ago, that the pride of Konoha, the avenger of the Uchiha clan, would fall so hard for the village pariah? Throughout the years since the massacre, every girl in the village had thrown themselves at him, seeing only his looks and the Uchiha name; Naruto saw him for who he really was. He had been hateful, and scared and lonely, and Naruto knew. Knew what it was like, had felt the same way. Sasuke still didn't know why Naruto changed; that was something he'd have to ask about. All he knew, was that Naruto literally changed overnight, the night of the genin exams, which the blond had failed. It had been a surprise to see him at the academy the next day wearing a hitai-ate, and saying he passed. Sasuke knew it had to do with having learned the kage bunshin, but nothing else. A light blush crept over his pale cheeks as he remembered what else happened that day; he and Naruto had shared their first kiss.

The Uchiha was brought out of his thoughts by a soft, " 'Morning." Looking at the object of his thoughts, he saw sleepy blue eyes staring up at him. Smiling, Sasuke leaned over and placed a gentle kiss on kiss-swollen lips and said, "Good morning to you. How are you feeling today? Did you sleep all right?"

The smile he got in response could have dimmed the sun.

"Sasuke?" Naruto asked shyly. "Does this...I mean, do you...? What I'm trying to say is, I really like you. Well, maybe more than like; I...I l-l-love you, Sasuke." Naruto lowered his eyes so he couldn't see the rejection on the other's face.

Sasuke smiled as he lay on his back, pulling the younger boy into his arms. "I thought about you almost every day that I was gone. I couldn't understand why I couldn't get you out of my head. I mean, I'd tried to kill you for power; tried to break our bond, but I failed. Seeing you lying on that beach, not breathing, I finally realized the answer. I love you, Naruto; I always have. I couldn't bear the thought of you not being around anymore. You're my sun, my heart, my everything. You are all that's good in this world."

Naruto lay there listening to the beat of the raven's heart as he took in what Sasuke had told him. A warmth spread through his chest, making his heart swell. Sasuke loved him, too. For the first time in his life, Naruto was happy, truly happy. He snuggled closer and wrapped his arm around Sasuke's waist, hugging tightly.

The two lay like that for awhile longer until growling stomachs made them move. Time to get some breakfast. They dressed and headed to the kitchen.

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The restaurant was almost empty but for the three people sitting at a small table near the back corner. To most observers, there would be nothing odd about this, just looking like old friends having a quiet meal together. However, it was the identities of the three that was disturbing.

Koharu squinted her eyes in displeasure. "Tsunade is planning something with the kyuubi-brat, I know it. Have you seen the way she looks at us whenever we mention his name? It's like she thinks we don't know he's been pulling most of the pranks in this village. She does nothing to censor him, indulges him like a little brother. Once he became a genin, he had stopped that nonsense, but all of a sudden, he's started up again. The townspeople have been coming to us, complaining that the Godaime is doing nothing to stop him. Nothing is being done. Those who take the reports act like they don't care that shops and homes have been vandalized. Even ANBU is being quite lax on the subject. We sent a team to investigate these occurances, and they said they could find no evidence to link Uzumaki to any of it. What a load of bull! What have you been doing, Danzou? Have you had Root look into it yet?"

The scarred, bandaged man stared at the woman disinterestedly. Inside, he was thinking; his own division of ANBU, Root, had been behaving odd lately as well. Those he had sent out to investigate had said the same thing: Uzumaki Naruto was innocent of any wrong-doing, according to them. Of course, the entire village had seen the Hokage chasing after the boy the other day, obviously having been on the receiving end of such a prank, if the short hair and orange jacket were any indication. However, it was reported that after punching the boy, she took him out to eat. Not something HE would do under the circumstances.

"Tsunade has to go. If we can't control her, and by extention the kyuubi, as well as the other shinobi, we'll just have to get rid of her. It must be seen as an accident; we don't want suspicion to fall on us." Danzou looked between Koharu and Homura, seeing if they would agree with his solution. Inwardly, he smiled as they nodded in agreement.

The village Elders laid out their plans.

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Madara had disappeared from Konoha a couple of months prior to Naruto's return. He was currently sitting in one of the Akatsuki's bases conferring with the last few members of the group.

"We need to capture the eight-tail by the time Konoha's Elders fall. Once we have it, and with Konoha in disarray, it will be easy to take down the kyuubi. He won't be expecting it. Soon, all the world will bow down to us. We will be the strongest of the shinobi nations, and control everything!" An almost demonic chuckle escaped from behind the orange mask.

Kisame smirked; it was going to be fun destroying the Leaf. But what did he mean by 'strongest of the shinobi nations'? The Akatsuki wasn't a nation, though they were based in Rain. He watched in fascination as the true leader of Akatsuki removed his mask. "I see. Mizukage-sama, so you are the one. So, we will be doing this for Kirigakure, then. It will be good to go home a hero, rather than a missing-nin. I look forward to that day."

Konan and Pein were surprised by this latest revelation, but hid it well. They had known he was an Uchiha, but not about his relation to Kiri. As long as he left Rain to their leadership, they would continue to follow his orders.

Madara smirked. "We will hunt down the eight-tail demon while my descendant and his friends play their little games. Once it's extracted, we can move on Konoha while they are at their weakest. Pein, I leave it to you and Konan to find the demon for us. Contact me once you have it in your possession. I need to return before the others become suspicious." Donning his mask, he disappeared without a trace, leaving the others to do as he ordered.

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Kakashi waited until his dolphin left for the academy before setting off to the Uchiha district. He had promised himself that he would make things up to Naruto, and the best way he knew was to teach the blond new jutsu. With Akatsuki still out there, even if Madara seemed to be on their side, he needed to help make his former student the strongest shinobi possible.

Arriving at the door to the Uchiha residence, Kakashi hesitated to knock. Chuckling, he went to a side window where he saw the two boys enjoying a meal together. Hopping onto the kitchen windowsill, he called out, "Yo."

Sasuke had sensed the jounin just before his appearance in his window. His eyebrow twitched in annoyance. "You know, you could have used the door. What do you want, Kakashi?"

The silver-haired man's visible eye crinkled in an upturned 'u'. "And good morning to you, too, Sasuke." Becoming serious, Kakashi entered the room and took a seat at the table. Glancing between the two younger men, he said, "I came to train with you both. Naruto must be stronger. I'm sure you learned a great deal from the toads," he said, forstalling protest from the blond, "but I can teach you even more. Sasuke could also probably teach you some new jutsu. I think we should go somewhere where we won't be observed. Yamato isn't busy today, and can no doubt be persuaded to join us. I don't know how myself, but I have the knowledge of the seals needed for the Hiraishin no jutsu, your father's most famous technique. Tsunade probably knows what happened to all your father's possessions, so let's go ask her. We need to find his special kunai." He refused to enlighten the two further.

Sasuke henged into Sakura, knowing she had been at work all night and would be spending the day sleeping. He looked down at his transformed body with distaste. Breasts! He shuddered. Once the Elders were gone, he could safely go outside the compound as himself. He couldn't wait!

The three left the house, waited as Sasuke locked the door, and headed to the Hokage Tower.

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They had passed Yamato on the way, and recruited him for the day. The four ninja entered the Godaime's office to see her sleeping with her head on her desk, drool dripping onto the official documents laying there. All four sweatdropped. It seems their leader was back to her old self. An empty sake bottle was laying next to her.

Clearing his throat, Kakashi stated loudly, "Hokage-sama!"

Tsunade's head jerked up at the sound. Casting a blurry glance around the room, she soon focused on the four. "What do you want, Hatake? Can't you see I'm busy?"

His eye twitched even as he once again sweatdropped. "I want to teach Naruto some of his father's techniques. For that, I need to know what happened to his belongings. In particular, his special kunai."

The blonde sannin leaned back in her chair, eyes narrowing. "So, you want to teach him THAT jutsu. I'm not sure where they are; they might be locked up here somewhere, but I'll have to check. Why now? You could have done this when the Third was alive. He would have known where Minato's affects were stored." She gazed accusingly at the copy-nin. Naruto had been his student, after all; he should have passed those jutsu onto the boy then. But then she remembered. Kakashi hadn't known Naruto was his sensei's son at the time. Sighing, she wondered if things would have been different if he had known. Too late now to think about that. At least the man was doing the right thing now. She smiled up at the men. "We have several storerooms on the top floor as well as in the basement." Reaching into a desk drawer, she pulled out a set of keys. Tossing them to Kakashi, she said, "Once you find what you're looking for, bring the keys back. Dismissed."

When they had left, Tsunade smirked to herself. She had seen the guilt in the copy-nin's lone eye when she asked her question. Shrugging it off, she decided to get some of the paperwork out of the way, and began to read the next document.

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It took them three hours before Naruto's group located the right room. At the very back, piled against the wall, were a stack of boxes marked with the Hokage seal. Inside one they found clothes. Naruto, curious, started to pull items out. At the bottom he found a coat; it was white, and had flames surrounding the bottom edge. He held it up; "Cool! This was really my dad's!?" he asked, turning towards his former sensei.

Pain stabbed through Kakashi's heart. He remembered well his sensei wearing that coat. He had worn it when he faced the demon fox that fateful night. Pulling himself together, Kakashi said, "Why don't you try it on? See if it fits. After all, it's yours now, Naruto." He let his eye curve into a smile. He blinked back the tears that threatened when the young blond followed his advice. 'He looks just like his father!' The thought brought more pain to the silver-haired nin, but a feeling of warmth soon pushed it aside. He was proud of the man Naruto was turning into, and now maybe others would see it, too.

Sasuke had watched the two, and seen the emotions passing through Kakashi's eye. Looking at the blond dobe, he couldn't help feeling pride in the boy as well. The loud, obnoxious class-clown had come a long ways over the years. Sasuke, seeing him in the Yondaime's coat, could picture him as the Rokudaime. He would make a great leader for their village. Smiling at the thought, he went back to looking through the box in front of him.

Yamato had paused momentarily in shock, seeing what looked like the Yondaime standing before them. Just now realizing the connection between the man and Naruto, he was happy for the boy. He lifted a bundle out of his box; it was heavy, and wrapped in silk. Setting it on the floor, he carefully removed the silk to find a wooden box. Opening it, he gaped. Inside were the strangest kunai imaginable; they were made with three blades, and of a metal he was unfamiliar with. "Kakashi-sempai! Are these what we're looking for?" He held one up for inspection. The blade was well-balanced, and could be easily thrown. Returning it to the box, he stood and presented the box to Kakashi.

Kakashi reverently grasped the box and looked inside. Sure enough, those were his sensei's special kunai, just like the one given to him when he made jounin. Pulling out his, he placed it into the box with the rest, then handed them to Naruto. "These were your father's; using these he performed the Hiraishin no jutsu, causing him to be nicknamed the 'Yellow Flash'. Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go see if you can be the Second Yellow Flash of Konohagakure." He then turned and headed out the door.

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Voices were heard whispering throughout the village. Snatches of words like "Demon" and "Yondaime" made passersby pay close attention. It seemed the kyuubi-vessel had been parading through town, wearing a coat just like the beloved Fourth's. Did he think he was better than the Yondaime!? How dare he dishonor the village's hero like that! Angry murmurs began to build in volume.

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"Hokage-sama! We have a situation!" The ninja that burst into Tsunade's office was panic-stricken. He bent nearly double, trying to catch his breath.

Tsunade frowned; what was he talking about!? "Report!" she demanded sharply.

Taking a deep breath, the chuunin straightened his back. "The villagers, they have formed a mob and split into two groups. One has set fire to Uzumaki Naruto's apartment, and the other is headed for the gates to wait for him to return to the village. He and his companions left a little while ago, to train, they said. Uzumaki was wearing the Yondaime's coat! The villagers are furious! I think they are really going to kill him this time!"

The blonde stood, knocking her chair over in the process. "Shizune! Mobilize all available ninja of chuunin and higher rank! We have to stop a slaughter." Turning to the chuunin who relayed this information to her, she said, "You! Organize a party to put out the fire, and contain the crowd at Naruto's apartment. Now!"

When he had left, Tsunade righted her chair and sat down, rubbing away the headache she felt. The council was going to love this. Great. Slowly, and with great resolve, she stood and walked out of her office. She would go to the gates herself to await her chosen successor. It was about time everyone learned the truth, anyways.

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A/N: Hope ya like. r&r please. Naru looks good in his daddy's cloak.


	8. Chapter 8

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A/N: Thanks again for the favorites, reviews and alerts!

Danzou was stunned speechless; his mind was blank and mouth agape. After five full minutes of looking like a total moron, he snapped back to himself. 'NO!! It can't be true! The bitch is lying to try to keep the kyuubi from being hurt, or worse!' Glancing around to ensure he was unobserved, he hurried away from the gates in search of the Third's teammates.

(flashback-third person POV)

The mass of villagers at the gates were being forcably restrained by a large group of the village's shinobi population, using both physical strength and a multitude of jutsu to control the lot. The appearance of the Hokage only seemed to increase the crowd's anger.

"Don't listen to her; she's under the demon's spell!" shouted a random villager.

"Death to the kyuubi!"

"You cannot protect that monster any longer, Hokage-sama!"

"The demon is going to pay for this latest insult!"

More statements of the same ilk followed. Tsunade had just about had enough. The final straw was "The Yondaime's murderer has been free long enough; now he'll pay for his crimes!" Powering her fist with chakra, she punched the ground, creating a massive crater in front of the gates, effectively seperating the villagers from the gates, and herself. Her voice roared over the mob like thunder, silencing all.

Tsunade stood straight and smirked. "Now, if I have everyone's attention, I'll tell you why I'm here. First, everyone is to calm down; Naruto's wearing of the Yondaime's coat is a compliment, not an insult. Uzumaki Naruto has every right to wear the Yondaime's coat; he is the Yondaime's heir, his only son. Sixteen years ago, on October 10th, three things occurred. One, the kyuubi no kitsune attacked our village. Two, the demon was sealed inside a newborn baby. Three, Namikaze Naruto was born. He is who Yondaime chose to seal the demon fox into; his own son rather than one of yours. The fox took many of your loved ones that night, but it also took away both of that boy's parents. Namikaze Minato, the Yondaime of this village, wanted his son to be seen as a hero, but you have denied him that right! Naruto was given his mother's maiden name to protect him from his father's enemies, but it didn't protect him from YOU! He has always shown this village his loyalty, and loves it despite how you have treated him. Naruto is no more the demon fox than a bottle is the sake. Naruto has proven himself to be one of the strongest, most loyal shinobi in the history of Konohagakure. As such, I now wish to proclaim that he is my chosen successor. Namikaze Naruto WILL be Konoha's Rokudaime!"

Naruto and his friends had entered the gates just as Tsunade made her final statement. He froze in his tracks. Kakashi and Yamato stopped one pace behind the blond, gaping at the scene in front of them. Neither knew what to make of it. Sasuke, disguised as Sakura, wanted to squeal like a fangirl, but kept himself outwardly composed. Inside, he was doing an excellent fangirl impersonation, eyes shooting hearts at the young blond shinobi. Finally, his dobe would get the recognition he deserved.

Ichiraku Teuchi had closed his stand and followed the mob at a distance to see what they had planned. Now standing off to the side where he had a good view of the gates, yet was seperated slightly from the rest of the crowd, he could clearly see his favorite customer enter. At the Hokage's announcement, he began to clap. He for one had often envisioned the boy in his father's stead, standing tall, protecting the village from harm. Now it seemed it would be a true vision, and he was happy for the boy.

Before long, the ninja surrounding the villagers joined the ramen owner in showing their appreciation of the Hokage's choice. One by one, numerous villagers started to clap; those who weren't excited by the news wandered back to their homes and shops, dejection and guilt written on their faces.

"Baa-chan?"

Tsunade turned around to see her favorite ninja standing just inside the gates, tears leaking from his eyes. She held her arms open, and he ran to her, clinging for all he was worth. The Hokage tightened her arms around the boy, letting him vent his emotions. Before long, hiccups and sniffles replaced the sobs, and she pulled back a bit so she could look Naruto in the eyes. "Congratulations, gaki. You will be my successor; your goal has almost been realized. We'll have to start training you to take over, so I can enjoy my retirement while I'm still young enough to do so." She smirked at him, giving him a wink, and turned to present him to the villagers.

(end flashback)

Koharu and Homura were sitting in the council chamber, discussing the lax attitude and disrespect of today's younger generation, when the door opened. Danzou slowly walked into the chamber, scowling as he took in the two already there. Without preamble, he got right to the point. "Tsunade has openly declared Uzumaki as her successor, but that's not the worst of it. Apparently, our 'beloved' Yondaime had a secret life. He was married, and the woman bore him a son the night of the fox's attack; Uzumaki is the Yondaime's son." He sneered at them, noticing the shocked faces of the two. "We'll have to make our move much sooner than expected. This will leave Uzumaki vulnerable to manipulation. He'll have to depend on us to learn how to be Hokage."

Sly smiles broke out on all three faces as they set to work.

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Sasuke, as Sakura, had gone to visit Ino. Over the years, she had been responsible for organizing several parties, and now he wanted her to set one up for Naruto. Obviously, Sasuke couldn't talk to the Konoha Twelve himself, and no one would think twice if it was Ino asking.

Ino was surprised to see her friend enter the flower shop; Sakura was supposed to be working nights. "Hey, Forehead! Why aren't you sleeping? Don't you have to work tonight? Or did you just miss my beautiful face and stunning personality?" She struck a pose and winked at the pinkette.

"Hn. As if. It's me, Ino. Sasuke. Have you heard? Tsunade chose Naruto to be the next Hokage. I want to throw him a party, and I want you to get everything ready, and let everyone know. How soon do you think you can do it?" Sasuke was hoping she could pull it off by the weekend; that gave her four days. "I don't want the Dobe to find out, though, so don't tell that big-mouth Inuzuka until the last minute, alright? Just make sure all Naruto's friends can make it. I'll tell Kakashi and he can let Tsunade and Iruka know. Got to go; let me know when the arrangements are made." Without so much as a farewell, he quickly exited the shop, disappearing into the crowded street.

Ino stared at the door for a moment, stunned. Sasuke was asking her to do him a favor!? "KYAAAAAHHHH!! Take that, forehead!" She quickly pulled out pen and paper, and began to make lists.

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(three days later)

Kakashi and Naruto were wandering through the village, talking about the Yondaime and his jutsu. Once Naruto had come to terms with being the man's son, he had wanted to know everything there was to know. They were interrupted by a group of girls who fought to be the first to ask him on a date. While the girls were distracted with their arguing, Kakashi grabbed the blond and poofed to the Hokage Tower. "I think you'll be safe here; rarely do civilians come here unless it's to request a mission," Kakashi said, eye curving into an upside-down 'u'. He stuck his hands in his pockets, and went off to find Iruka in the mission room.

Naruto looked around, wondering what he should do now. He didn't want to hang out at the Uchiha compound, and he wanted to stay far away from his new fangirls. Naruto still had a hard time believing that his dream was coming true. What made it more surreal was the change in the majority of the villagers. They seemed to go out of their way to be nice to him. Suddenly, he was welcome in all the shops and restaurants in town, and the owners waited on him personally. Vendors on the street offered him samples of what they were selling. People who had never acknowledged his existance before now came up to him, talking as if they had been best friends for years. It was a little unnerving. He almost wished they were still ignoring him, since he couldn't have a conversation with his friends without someone he didn't know butting in. Maybe he should ask Baa-chan for a mission, to get him away from here for a bit. Smiling at his stroke of brilliance, he headed to the Hokage's office.

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"...have to see reason. There's no way he can be Hokage. It's too dangerous! Not only that; the vessel is only a genin."

Naruto heard the sneer in the woman's voice as she spoke. So. Someone didn't think he was qualified to be the village leader? He had his hand on the doorknob, about to burst in like always, when he heard the speaker. He stepped back, thinking. If Tsunade was in a meeting with the village Elders, it might be better to wait to talk to her. He turned, and was half way to the stairs when he heard the office door bang open. The young blond ducked into an empty room and waited for the visitors to pass. Yup, it was those old farts, with their scowling, wrinkled old faces. He stayed in the room until he could no longer sense them, then ran to see Tsunade.

"Oi, Baa-chan! Ya busy?" Naruto glanced at the stacks of paper pushed against the wall, awaiting the Godaime's signature. He smirked as he stopped in front of her desk.

Tsunade glared at him. "What do you want, gaki? Make it quick; I have work to do." She watched as the boy seemed to deflate.

Hunching his shoulders, and looking anywhere but at her, Naruto sighed. "I'm bored. Do you have any missions that need doing? Maybe a low C-rank? Something to get me away from here for a few days?" He sighed again. "I'm tired of getting chased by stupid girls; I don't know how Sasuke managed, all those years ago. It's not just them either. All the villagers seem to have gone crazy or something; they won't leave me alone," he whined.

Tsunade hadn't changed position or expression. Still angry with the council, the reason for their visit then barged into her office. She didn't want to take her anger out on the young man, but at the moment he was behaving like a small child. "Maybe I made a mistake; maybe you're not mature enough for the position of Hokage."

Naruto's jaw dropped. He stared at the older blonde, unable to believe his ears. She would take it back!? Choose someone else as her successor!? If she wanted mature, he'd give her mature. Snapping to attention, he said, "Permission to speak, Hokage-sama."

Tsunade hid her surprise at the formal tone, and nodded.

Staring straight ahead, Naruto continued. "I respectfully request a mission that will take me out of the village for at least a week. It will give the villagers time to settle down, and myself time, also. May I please have such a mission?"

Having already been informed of Naruto's surprise party, the Godaime made a great show at looking through mission scrolls for something suitable. At last, she sat back with a sorrowful face. Keeping in the same tone as Naruto, she said, "I'm sorry, Namikaze-san. All I have are S-ranked ANBU missions, and several D-ranks. Since you're not ANBU, those are out. None of the D-ranked ones will take any longer than a day at max. I'm afraid for the time being, you are out of luck. Check back in a couple of days; maybe something will come up. Dismissed." Tsunade grabbed a stack of papers off the floor and began to peruse the one on top.

Naruto was hurt; she hadn't even mentioned his change in attitude. It was like she didn't care. It had taken alot for him to swallow his pride and hide behind another mask, and she didn't even notice! He left the office door open, too dejected to bother closing it. Once outside the building, Naruto headed to the only place for solitude. Upon landing on the top of the Fourth's head, he let the tears flow.

Back in her office, Tsunade stared thoughtfully after the teen. Maybe she had been too hard on him, but he needed to know that as a shinobi, he couldn't act like a child. Besides, there was no way she was going to send him away on a mission, and make him miss his own party. That would be evil. Then again... No! Ino for one would kill her! Not to mention the Uchiha! She let out a tired sigh, and read another report. If only she hadn't given up drinking while on the job! Heheh, there's still the party...!

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Madara had returned to Konoha, only to discover Tsunade had named her successor: Naruto. The Uchiha had also heard that undermining the Elders were proceeding according to plan. He decided that he couldn't take the chance on going up against the jinchuuriki as Hokage, and would make his move just prior to the official ceremony. The Elders would be easy to get rid of, and the Hokage would be too upset over the boy's death to fight effectively. In the midst of the chaos, he would level this place! Chuckling darkly, the oldest living Uchiha went to his room and locked the door. He must contact Kisame and get the ball rolling, but that could wait until tomorrow. Turning off the light, he crawled into bed, instantly falling asleep.

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After Naruto had taken off with Kakashi, Sasuke henged into Sakura once more and went to see Ino. They had spend a good portion of the afternoon going over party matters; the food would be catered by Ichiraku (who else?), the Hokage had agreed to suspend missions for Naruto's friends until afterwards, and everyone had been notified of the time and place. Sakura would be given the night off to attend. They decided that Tsunade's office was large enough to hold everybody, and she had been tearing through stacks of files, trying to clear the room. Eight o'clock seemed like the best time to start the party; all were to be there no later than 7:30pm. Tsunade would then send for Team Kakashi, saying an important mission had just come up. Naruto was sure to take the bait. After making sure the plans for the party were complete, Sasuke went home to prepare dinner.

Sasuke had waited until an hour past dinner time to go in search of his blond. The boy had left that afternoon with their former sensei, Kakashi, and had yet to come home. Maybe he's at Ichiraku's, or even Iruka's. When getting a good meal, Naruto had a tendency to lose track of time. Throwing a hooded cloak over his shoulders, Sasuke set out to find his dobe.

His first stop was the ramen bar; the owner said he hadn't seen the blond all day. Next, he tried Iruka's. Iruka invited the young man inside where, lounging on the couch reading an Icha Icha novel, was the infamous (to Team 7) perverted Copy-nin, Hatake Kakashi. Sasuke wasted no time on idle chit-chat. "Kakashi, where's Naruto?"

The jounin raised an eyebrow as he turned towards the raven. "Hmm?"

Letting out an exasperated snort, Sasuke clarified. "Naruto didn't come home for dinner. Ichiraku-san says he hasn't been there all day. The dobe left the house with you, so where is he?"

Kakashi sat up, tucking his book into his pocket. "I helped him escape some fangirls by taking him to the Hokage Tower. Have you checked there?"

He got his answer by the abrupt departure of the Uchiha.

The young raven knew better than to enter by normal means. Leaping to the rooftops, he raced to the tower and entered through the window of the Godaime's office. He wasn't too surprised when Tsunade continued with her work, only saying a gruff, "What do you want, Uchiha? Can't you see I'm working?"

Sasuke smirked from his place on the windowsill, but answered soon enough. "I'm looking for the Dobe. Have you seen him today?"

Tsunade dropped her pen and spun to face the raven-haired teen. "You mean he hasn't come home yet? But it's been hours since he left here. Have you checked with Iruka, or even Kakashi? How about Ichiraku's?" She started to get a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach with each shake of the raven's head. "None of them have seen him!? Damn! Damnit all to hell!" The buxom blonde stood and began to pace her office.

The Uchiha watched her make two circuits of the room before he spoke. "Hokage-sama, what happened? By your words and actions, I'd say that he did come see you, correct?"

The face that turned to him was one of grief. The woman appeared ready to cry. "I'm afraid I've upset him. Naruto showed up, asking for a mission that would take him out of the village for a few days; I told him no. That's not all of it. The village Elders were here just before he came in. I was still angry, and I took it out on him, calling him immature and saying I might have made a mistake in naming him my replacement. I've never seen anyone look as crushed as he did. If something happens to the gaki, I'll never forgive myself." Tears were now coursing down her cheeks as understanding dawned in the raven's dark orbs.

"The Yondaime's head! I'm sure he went there, if he was as upset as you say!" Sasuke darted out the window, with the Hokage right on his heels.

Shizune chose that moment to enter the office. Seeing the room empty, she set the results of her experiments in the center of Tsunade's desk. If, or when, the Uchiha returned to Konohagakure, they had a cure for the curse mark. Anko was proof of that. Smiling in self-satisfaction, she walked back out, shutting the door quietly.

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A chill wind was blowing on top of Hokage Mountain. Tsunade shivered as she looked around, trying to spot light-colored hair in the light of the full moon. Naruto was no where to be found on the Yondaime's head.

Sasuke had activated his Sharingan in hopes of picking up a chakra trail. It seemed the dobe had been there earlier, but there was no trace of where he had gone afterwards. What they needed was someone with exceptional tracking skills; Karin was the likeliest candidate, but Sasuke didn't want to be exposed to the obsessive fangirl more than he had to be. That left dogs. Sasuke didn't really like Kiba and knew the feeling was mutual, so that left Kakashi and his nin-dogs. The two took off for Iruka's, knowing that was where the jounin could be found. They just hoped they wouldn't be interrupting.

Iruka answered the door, wearing a pair of sweat pants with his hair hanging around his face. He stepped back, allowing them to enter, then closed the door securely. "What can I do for you, Hokage-sama?"

"Cut the formalities, Iruka. We have to talk to Kakashi; get his lazy ass in here," Tsunade snarled.

"Maa, maa. What's all the fuss, Tsunade-sama? Sasuke? Did you find Naruto?"

Sasuke lunged at the silver-haired man, only to be restrained by Tsunade. She looked the older nin square in the eye and said, "Kakashi, we need to borrow one of your dogs. Naruto has gone missing."

Without another word, the jounin performed Kuchiyose no Jutsu, summoning Pakkun.

"What's up, boss? It's kinda late, and I need my beauty sleep."

"Naruto is missing, Pakkun. I need you to track him for us. He was last at..." He turned an inquiring eye on the two visitors.

"On top of the Yondaime's head," Sasuke ground out. "Do you think you can find him?" He glared at the little dog, awaiting his response.

Pakkun sniff haughtily. "Of course I can! What kind of mutt do you think I am?"

Leaving Iruka to fret alone in his house, the three plus the dog raced to the monument. Pakkun easily picked up the scent and took off, the others hard on his heels. Leading them in a winding pattern through the village, they eventually reached the Uchiha district.

Sasuke stopped and stared. "No way!" he breathed. He opened the front door of his home, and followed the little dog straight to his room. Inside, they found their wayward blond, curled up in bed, fast asleep.

Closing the door again, the four searchers walked to the livingroom where Pakkun said goodnight, and poofed away. They were all thankful that nothing had happened to the dobe, and Tsunade and Kakashi left soon after.

Sasuke went back to his room, changed into a pair of sleep pants and slid into bed next to the blond. Pulling the sleeping boy close, he murmured, "Tomorrow, you're going to explain, Dobe. I thought I'd lost you." Giving a kiss to Naruto's forehead, he settled down to sleep.

A/N: Sorry for the lame ending. Next chapter has more action.


	9. Chapter 9

The Revenge

Disclaimer: Kishimoto Masashi owns Naruto; I only wish I did.

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A/N: Many thanks to Oro-kun and Kantra for their continued support and reviews. I love you guys!

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The morning of Naruto's surprise party dawned with clear skies and a cool breeze. Sasuke awoke with a chill. Looking towards the other person in his bed, he realized that the dobe had stolen all the covers, wrapped up in them like a cocoon. Snorting in amusement at the blond, he decided he might as well get up for the day. Grabbing clean clothes and a towel, he went and showered, then went to the kitchen and prepared breakfast. As a special treat for his love, he made home-made miso ramen, with sesame seed onigiri for himself. As he was setting the finished products of his labor on the table, a yawning Naruto entered the room.

"Sasuke? What smells so goo...? RAMEN!!" In the blink of an eye, the younger man was seated at the table, splitting apart a pair a chopsticks, exclaiming, "Itadakimasu!"

Sasuke blinked at the blond, smirked, and joined the other at the table.

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Tsunade's office was empty of everything but her spotless desk. Shizune came in, followed by Ino and Hinata, carrying armloads of decorations for the party. In next to no time, all the decorations were in place. Streamers hung from the ceiling; Japanese lanterns also were hung. A large banner stretched across the windows behind the desk reading "CONGRATULATIONS, NARUTO!", and was signed by all his friends. Off to the side a table had been set up, plates and cups stacked on it, waiting to be filled with food and drinks. Tsunade looked around in satisfaction, then did some seals, placing a genjutsu over the room to make it look the same as always. Turning to the others, she told them to bring the food by seven o'clock so it could all be arranged by the time the rest of Naruto's friends arrived. Everyone left to get ready.

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Danzou had found out about the party and made his own arrangements. By the end of the night, there would be one less obstacle in his way. Soon, Konohagakure would be his.

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At 7:45 p.m., everyone was in place, and another genjutsu was set to hide them from Naruto. Tsunade then had Shizune send for the young blond. He was to be told there was an urgent mission for Team Kakashi; knowing him, he would jump at the chance.

Naruto was sitting on the couch next to Sasuke, talking with the other members of Team Taka, when someone knocked at the door. While the others ducked out of sight, he opened it to find an ANBU standing before him.

"Hokage-sama has a mission for you; your presence is requested in her office immediately." With that said, he disappeared.

Naruto shut the door and ran to his room to pack. Sasuke was sitting on the bed.

"What's up, Dobe?" he asked, smirking to himself. As soon as Naruto left, he and Team Taka were to transport themselves to the Hokage Tower in order to be in place when Naruto arrived. He was looking forward to seeing the look on the dobe's face when he saw everything. This was one party he couldn't wait to attend.

Naruto paused in his packing to address the raven. "Tsunade-baa-chan has a mission for us. I wonder what we'll be doing, and how long we'll be gone. Once I find out, I'll come back here and let you know, okay, Teme?" He didn't wait for a response, but resumed packing. As soon as he finished, he left the house at a run, heading for the Tower.

Naruto burst through the office door without knocking. "Oi, Baa-chan! What's the mission?" Looking around, he noticed none of his teammates had arrived yet. Pouting, he said, "Where's the rest of the team? I thought it was a team mission, Baa-chan." He glared at Tsunade, who just smirked at him. Putting her hands in a seal, she yelled, "Kai!"

"SURPRISE!" Suddenly the room was full of people, all crowding around Naruto. He gaped at everyone. There were the Rookie 9, Team Gai, Iruka, Ibiki, Anko, Genma, Raidou, Aoba, Ibisu, the Konohamaru Korps, Teuchi and Ayame from the ramen stand, Shizune, Kakashi, Sakura, and Sai. Even more surprising, Team Taka was there, too.

Sasuke smirked at the blond. "Congratulations, Dobe. What took you so long to get here?"

Snapping back to himself, Naruto scowled at the raven. "Don't call me that, Teme!" Then, the full meaning of what was happening hit him. His face nearly split in half by his smile, he said, "You guys, thank you!" He glomped Tsunade, squeezing her. Her laughter made him release his hold, as he looked at her, puzzled. "What's so funny, Baa-chan?"

"Gaki, the one you should really be thanking is the Uchiha. It was all his idea," she said, smirking. "He had Ino set it up."

Turning to Sasuke with tears in his eyes, he tackled the raven and kissed him. "Thanks, Teme. I love you."

Blushing furiously, Sasuke pushed Naruto off of him, and stood up. Pulling the blond back to his feet, he hissed, "Not in public, Dobe!"

Naruto couldn't help smiling back; this was the best thing to happen to him. No one had ever thrown a party for him before, and he was going to enjoy this one. The others took their turns congratulating him, then they started to serve the refreshments.

A couple hours later, the party was in full swing. Someone had brought in a stereo and music was blasting throughout the Tower. People were dancing in the middle of the room, while others stood along the walls talking. Tsunade had been sipping sake all evening, and was fairly tipsy by this time. It was no surprise to anyone, then, when she suddenly slumped to the floor by the open window.

However, when Naruto and Shizune went to help her to a chair, she didn't respond in the slightest. Worried, Shizune ran a scan over her. Poison! But how!? Calling to Sakura, they carried her to another room. There, the two medic-nins set to work extracting the poison, and working on an antidote.

Meanwhile, Naruto called an end to the party. Nobody wanted to leave; all were worried about their leader, so they decided to wait right there. Shizune soon entered the office, her face solemn. "Tsunade-sama has been poisoned. We found a scratch on the back of her neck that appears to be the source. Did anybody see anything? A weapon, maybe. Look around; it's got to be around here somewhere." In just a few minutes Kiba held up a senbon that was lying on the floor near where the Hokage had been standing. A quick inspection proved that it was indeed the weapon used. With it in hand, Shizune hurried back to the other room. And the waiting continued.

The jounin in the room, once the senbon had been discovered, left to search for the culprit. Karin accompanied them to help track. They had gotten a chakra signature off the needle, and soon located traces of the same signature on the roof of a nearby building. They tracked it to its source, an ANBU in a bird mask. After a brief fight, the man was taken into Ibiki's custody.

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It was agreed to keep the attack quiet. Tsunade was alive, awake, but extremely weak, and it might be days or even weeks before she was able to resume her duties. Naruto, as her choice for next Hokage, had taken over her office, and was being given a crash course on leadership. He spent his days filling out paperwork, assigning missions, and learning general information on the day-to-day workings of a hidden village.

A week had gone by since the attack, and Naruto was neck-deep in forms to fill out when the door opened. In walked two of his least favorite people, the Elders Homura and Koharu. He sat back in his chair and waited for them to state the reason for their visit.

Without preamble, Koharu demanded, "Where's Tsunade? Why are you sitting at her desk?"

Holding his temper in check, for once, Naruto gazed steadily at the old hag. "As next in line for the leadership of this village, I'm learning my job. Tsunade caught an illness, and is resting. Is there any particular reason you're here?"

Homura spoke up. "You are not qualified. If Tsunade cannot fulfill her duties, we will appoint someone who can. Where's Shizune? She can give us the answers we require."

At that moment, Shizune entered the room. "Naruto-sama, I..." She stared at the Elders, a brief wave of panic washing through her. "Koharu-sama, Homura-sama, what an unexpected surprise! What brings the two of you here?" She bowed slightly to the two.

"Where's Tsunade? I want to speak to her right now!" Koharu demanded.

Straightening her back, Shizune stated, "Tsunade-sama has been ill with a fever; she is resting. I will go and see if she would like to receive visitors." She turned on her heel and strode out the door.

The Elders watched her leave, then turned back to Naruto. "You will stop doing anything more. WE will decide who should take over while Tsunade is incapacitated; you are only a genin. How much help would you be in the event of an attack? You're not strong enough!" Koharu was practically snarling at the boy.

Homura smirked, nodding his head in agreement. "I think it would be best if you were to leave this instant. We can't have you screwing up mission assignments, after all. Also, you don't have the clearance to even see B-rank missions and above, much less assign them, or take their reports."

Naruto stood, anger radiating off him in waves. "Now you listen up!" he growled, whisker marks darkening and eyes flashing briefly red. "Tsunade-baa-chan assigned this task to me! The only person who has the authority to tell me otherwise is her. Are you saying that you are really the leaders of this village and that the position of Hokage is meaningless? I don't, and won't, believe that! My parents fought and died for this village, for the Hokage. You can't tell me their sacrifices weren't worth anything!"

Sneering, Koharu chided, "Your parents? Tell me, little boy, how do you know that they made any sacrifices for Konoha? Do you even know who they were?" She had been told that the vessel was outside the village training at the time Tsunade had made that revelation. Certainly, no one would dare tell him! After all, if he knew, surely he would be bragging throughout the village. His ego would be enormous! But no, he hadn't behaved any different than usual.

Killing intent flooded the room, leaking to other parts of the building. "Don't you DARE say anything about my parents! My father's little toe was worth more than either of you, put together, were EVER worth! Namikaze Minato, the Yondaime, gave everything he had for this village's well-being. When my mother died in childbirth, he used his own child as a sacrifice to save this place! He gave his own LIFE to do so. So don't you talk trash about them. You don't have the right!" Naruto was shaking with fury; how dare they speak so to him!? He could feel the kyuubi trying to break free, and it was taking all his willpower to hold it in. "Get out of this office! You're not welcome, and I have work to do!" He sat down and pulled another folder in front of him; the killing intent not abating.

The door burst open and the room filled with ANBU, followed by a breathless Shizune. "Naruto, what's wrong? What happened?" she asked, looking from his face to that of the Elders.

Glaring at the old couple, Naruto growled, "Get these people out of here! And they are not to be allowed in until further notice, or until Baa-chan is back on her feet. Get them out of my sight!"

With much protest, the Elders were escorted from the room under ANBU guard, and out of the Tower. The door closed quietly behind them. As the killing intent ebbed, Naruto put a hand to his forehead, rubbing away the tension. "Shizune-san, how is Baa-chan doing? Can I go see her, or is she sleeping?"

Chuckling, Shizune said, "I doubt anyone within twenty kilometers of here could sleep after that level of killing intent. I thought I was going to be sick, it was so strong. What did the Elders want that made you so mad?"

Naruto huffed a bit before answering. "They said I'm not strong enough, nor am I qualified to be Baa-chan's replacement, since I'm only a genin. That witch even made a comment doubting that my parents ever did anything for this village. I almost lost control, they made me so angry." Sighing, he sunk further into his chair, a cute pout showing on his face.

Shizune stifled a giggle at how childish he looked, and said she'd take him to see Tsunade-sama now. Naruto eagerly followed her from the room.

xxxxxxxxxxx

Tsunade opened her eyes as the door opened. Looking at her visitors, she said weakly, "Oi, Gaki. Are you taking care of the village for me? What happened a little while ago?"

Ashamedly staring at the ground, Naruto practically whispered, "I got mad at those old farts, and kicked them out of the office. I told the guards not to let them in until you were better."

Tsunade snorted. "You should have banned them for life. That way I wouldn't have to deal with them anymore, either."

Naruto stared at her. She looked pale, with dark circles around her eyes. What had that poison done to her? So he asked.

His answer came from Shizune. "The poison used was a fast-acting neurotoxin. It was designed to cause the body's nervous system to misfire, thus causing the target to go into cardiac arrest. In this case, Tsunade-sama." She glanced at Naruto to see if he understood. "It has also damaged some of her muscles; it will take some time before she's strong enough to walk around, much less take over her duties again."

Tsunade scowled. "I'm not that weak; I'll be back on my feet before you know it. Besides, I needed a vacation anyway. I just didn't think it'd be spent lying in bed."

Naruto wanted to cheer her up. "Baa-chan, Ibiki-san finished his interrogation. The person who did this to you is a Root ANBU; Danzou is behind the attack. Ibiki wants to know what you want to do about it." He watched her expression darken at the news, and color come into her face.

"Have him arrested; I want him to have a public execution. He's a traitor and I'm tired of worrying about what he's going to try next. I also want Koharu and Homura kept under surveillance. They've been thick with him for quite a while now, and might have been in on it." She lay back down with a slight groan. "I need some sleep; get back to your paperwork, Gaki." Turning onto her side, she closed her eyes. Moments later, her breathing evened out and she was asleep. Shizune and Naruto quietly left the room, closing the door behind them.

xxxxxxxxxxx

The news of Danzou's arrest rocked the village of Konoha to its foundations. The Elders were conspicuous in the fact that they didn't try to interfere. In fact, they were keeping an extremely low profile. This caused alot of speculation that maybe they were just as guilty as Danzou. Guilty of what remained to be seen. As of yet, the details of Danzou's traitorous acts hadn't been released to the general public.

Many thought maybe he had been caught consorting with the enemy, but which enemy? There was always tension between Konoha and Iwa, just as there was with Kumo. Kirigakure seemed indifferent to the goings-on in Fire Country; the Sound village was no more with the death of Orochimaru. That left only the Akatsuki, as far as the villagers knew.

Naruto, on Tsunade's orders, had called for the resignation of the current council members, and had appointed new people to take over. Ebisu was chosen to represent the sensei at the academy. Kakashi and Maito Gai were to speak for the jounin and jounin-sensei. For the ANBU, Uzuki Yuugao was chosen to be their representative. The merchants and vendors also had spokespersons: Ichiraku Teuchi and Yamanaka Inoichi, the latter because of his family's flower shop. Last, but not least, Haruno Sakura represented the village's medical profession. These people, along with the heads of the shinobi clans, would decide the fate of Danzou.

After much deliberation, and a speech by a wheelchair-bound Tsunade, it was agreed that he was to be given a public execution. There would be no appeal, no quick, honorable death given to the traitor. He was to be hanged by the neck until dead. A gallows was quickly built in front of the Hokage Tower and the man was led out, bound by chakra-infused manacles around both ankles and wrists. His chakra points had all been sealed by none other than Hyuuga Hiashi himself. They were not taking any chances that Danzou could escape his fate. As the villagers crowded into the area surrounding the gallows, Danzou stumbled his way up the stairs to the noose. On top of the platform, Tsunade waited in her chair next to Morino Ibiki, who would release the trapdoor. Naruto stood at the rear of the platform as Tsunade's successor.

Danzou's good eye widened slightly, and he balked when he realized this was really going to happen. Then, like the proud man he was, he limped straight to his place and allowed the noose to be fitted around his neck. When asked if he had any last words, Danzou lifted his chin and said, "I have done nothing wrong. Everything I've done has been for the good of Konohagakure." At a nod from the Godaime, Ibiki pulled the lever. Twenty minutes later, the traitor was pronounced dead.

Returning to the Hokage's office, Naruto felt nothing. He should be glad that the person responsible for Baa-chan's condition had been punished, but death was not something he took lightly. If it had been solely up to him, the old warmonger would have been exiled. Knowing how the man worked, however, Naruto knew that Danzou would have just stirred up trouble wherever he ended up, so death was the better choice. Sinking into the Hokage's chai, Naruto rested his head in his hands and wished he could be with Sasuke.

That was another matter that had to be addressed: the pardoning of one Uchiha Sasuke, and acceptance of the Taka ninja into Konoha's shinobi ranks. Hopefully, the Godaime Hokage would be back on her feet soon, so that she could handle that headache.

A/N: Sorry it took so long to update. This was a pain to write.


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